Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian has said, farm income support scheme PM-KISAN will provide multiple benefits to farmers, including improving their credit worthiness.

The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana (PM-KISAN) was announced in the Interim Budget 2019-20, under which 6,000 crore rupees will be given in three installments to 12 crore small and marginal farmers holding cultivable land up to 2 hectares.

Speaking to a news agency, Mr Subramanian said, producer support in India is very low compared to the other countries and the scheme will help in supplementing that. He said, across countries, producer support for farmers are quite high and the recent OECD study which talks about producers support in India is quite low. He said, the reason farming is supported in a lot of countries is that the risk-return trade-off is bad in the sector.

Mr Subramanian said, the other important benefit of this scheme is in terms of making farmers credit worthy as financial institutions have assured cash flow for this vulnerable section. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally launch the scheme at a farmers’ rally in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on February 24.

The data uploaded on the PM-KISAN portal till February 24 will be considered for transfer of the first instalment at the launch event and the second installment will be given from April 1.