Two announcements, nearly ₹1,100 crore in combined value, and a pointed promise — Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan arrived in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, declaring he had not come 'empty-handed' for the state's farmers.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), the government has approved the procurement of 43,250 metric tonnes of sesame (til) at minimum support price, valued at ₹447 crore, and 86,500 metric tonnes of groundnut (moongfali) worth ₹650 crore — both from Uttar Pradesh farmers. Alongside, Chouhan announced approval of 374 rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) at a cost of ₹544.62 crore. He tagged the post with the hashtag #KhetBachaoAbhiyan — 'Save the Farm Campaign' — signalling the political framing around the push.

What PM-AASHA actually does for oilseed growers

PM-AASHA, approved by the Union Cabinet in 2018, was designed precisely for moments like this: when market prices for oilseeds slip below the government-announced floor, the scheme enables state agencies to step in and buy directly from farmers at MSP. Sesame and groundnut are both oilseeds vulnerable to price crashes at harvest, and Uttar Pradesh — India's most populous state — is a significant producer of both. For a farmer who has spent months on a crop, the difference between MSP and an open-market distress price can be the difference between a season survived and a debt spiral entered.

The combined oilseed procurement package of ₹1,097 crore is a direct income-protection intervention, bypassing market intermediaries and placing a price floor beneath two of the state's key kharif oilseed crops.

374 roads and the PMGSY arc in UP

The second tranche of the announcement — ₹544.62 crore for 374 rural roads — falls under PMGSY, the flagship all-weather rural connectivity scheme that has been running in successive phases since 2000. Phase III, approved in 2019, sharpened focus on consolidating existing rural roads and upgrading major district links. For the villages at the end of these 374 proposed roads, the practical stakes are immediate: all-weather access to mandis, hospitals, and schools.

Chouhan's dual announcement — farm income support paired with infrastructure — follows a well-established pattern of central ministers visiting large agricultural states with bundled packages that address both immediate farmer income and longer-term connectivity. That the visit carries the KhetBachaoAbhiyan branding suggests the BJP is keen to keep the agrarian narrative politically visible ahead of any electoral cycle in the state.