Crop Diversification Programme (CDP)
फ़सल विविधीकरण कार्यक्रम (सीडीपी)
A PM-RKVY sub-scheme that pays district-level farmer clusters in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP to swap water-guzzling paddy for maize, pulses and oilseeds — and, in ten more states, helps tobacco growers move to alternate crops — through a 60:40 Centre:State funded package of demonstrations, machinery and marketing support.
- States covered
- Punjab, Haryana, Western UP (+10 tobacco states)
- Launched
- 2013-14 (₹500 crore first-year outlay)
- Funding pattern
- 60:40 Centre:State
- Cluster unit
- 10 hectares, with a farmer group leader
- Pulses assistance
- ₹10,000/hectare
- Groundnut assistance
- ₹14,000/hectare
- Component of
- PM-RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana)
- Area diverted (2018-19 to 2024-25)
- 1,86,546 hectares
Quick Summary
The key points from this page in about two minutes — read it or have it read aloud.
Quick Summary
CDP exists because Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh grew so much paddy for so long that the groundwater underneath them started running out. Since 2013-14, this PM-RKVY sub-scheme has funded farmer clusters in these three states to swap a share of their paddy area for maize, kharif pulses (arhar, mungbean, urdbean, cluster bean), oilseeds (soybean, til) or a poplar-based agroforestry system instead — crops that draw far less water and, being legumes in several cases, rebuild soil fertility rather than exhaust it. From 2015-16, the same cluster-demonstration idea was extended to ten more tobacco-growing states, this time nudging tobacco farmers onto alternate cropping systems.
Nothing about CDP is a form a farmer fills out alone. The District Agriculture Officer's team picks a 10-hectare cluster in a Central Ground Water Board-notified block, names one progressive farmer as its group leader, and arranges seed and inputs before sowing — a 60:40 Centre:State funding split covers those inputs, custom-hired machinery for the group, and a cash top-up for the land-development and marketing effort a farmer loses by not growing paddy that season. A farmer's actual way in is asking the district Agriculture office whether their block has been notified for that year's cluster demonstrations, not searching for an online form.
Overview
The Crop Diversification Programme (CDP) was announced in the Finance Minister's 2013-14 Budget speech with a first-year outlay of ₹500 crore, to divert the area under water-guzzling paddy to alternate crops in the "Original Green Revolution States" — Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh — from the 2013-14 kharif season onward. A Committee of Secretaries had examined nine major rice-wheat and rice-dominant states and concluded that continuous paddy-wheat cropping in the north-west plains had stagnated yields, depleted groundwater and degraded soil health, calling for immediate diversification through technological alternatives rather than a blanket ban on paddy.
CDP works by identifying over-exploited and critical groundwater blocks — using Central Ground Water Board data — in the major paddy-growing districts of the three states, and organising 10-hectare cluster demonstration units within them. Assistance funds four things: alternate-crop demonstrations, farm mechanisation and value addition, site-specific activities, and awareness training/monitoring, split under the original guidelines as 60%, 23%, 15% and 2% of a state's allocation respectively, with a further 10% of the total programme outlay held back at the central level and released to states only after performance is assessed. From 2015-16, the Department extended the same cluster-demonstration model to ten tobacco-growing states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — to help tobacco farmers shift to alternate cropping systems.
CDP has run as a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) since its 2013-14 launch, and continues today as a component of Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY) after the Cabinet's 3 October 2024 restructuring of that umbrella scheme. Funding is shared 60:40 between the Centre and the State, with each State preparing its own district-wise action plan — how many hectares, which crops — for the Ministry's approval before field implementation. Punjab and Haryana also run their own State-funded diversification schemes (such as Haryana's "Mera Pani Meri Virasat") that pay farmers directly for skipping paddy; these are separate from, and run alongside, the Centre's CDP.
Scheme highlights
Paddy out, pulses and maize in
In notified blocks of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP, a share of the paddy area is diverted each season to maize, kharif pulses, oilseeds or a poplar-based agroforestry system — all chosen because they draw far less groundwater than flood-irrigated paddy.
Legumes rebuild the soil, not just the water table
Kharif pulses like arhar, mungbean and urdbean fix their own nitrogen and need less irrigation, so diversification is designed to restore soil fertility as much as it recharges groundwater.
Built around a 10-hectare cluster
Cluster demonstration units of 10 hectares are organised through identified beneficiary groups, with one progressive farmer named group leader to coordinate the demonstration and its inputs.
Machinery on hire, not on your own bill
23% of a state's CDP allocation funds crop-specific machinery — a maize sheller, multi-crop thresher or portable cleaner-cum-grader — provided to a group of farmers on a custom-hiring basis rather than bought individually.
Also reaches tobacco farmers, in ten more states
From 2015-16, the same cluster-demonstration model was extended to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, to help tobacco growers shift to alternate cropping systems.
A performance incentive, not just a fixed grant
10% of the total CDP allocation is held back at the central level and released to a state only after the National Centre for Agricultural Economics and Policy Research (NCAP) assesses how much paddy area it actually diverted against target.
What you get
Inputs and machinery funded, not just advice
Beyond the demonstration itself, assistance covers seed and input costs, custom-hired machinery, and a cash component for land development and marketing — recognising that a farmer loses paddy-season income while switching crops.
Less pressure on a collapsing water table
Every hectare actually diverted from paddy to maize, pulses or oilseeds is a hectare that stops drawing down groundwater in some of India's most over-exploited blocks, as identified using Central Ground Water Board data.
A path off a stagnant rice-wheat cycle
Continuous rice-wheat cropping in these regions had already hit a yield plateau before CDP was designed; alternate crops offer a way to diversify farm income rather than keep squeezing the same two crops for more.
Training built into the demonstration
Awareness training for beneficiary farmers on diversification, soil-fertility restoration and value addition is funded as part of the same cluster package, not left for farmers to arrange on their own.
Who is eligible
Both lists come from the notified operational guidelines — meeting the left column is not enough if anything in the right column applies to your family.
You qualify if
- Your village or block falls in a Central Ground Water Board-notified over-exploited or critical block of Punjab, Haryana or Western Uttar Pradesh identified for CDP implementation
- You grow tobacco in one of the ten notified tobacco-diversification states (Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal) and are willing to shift to an alternate cropping system
- You are willing to grow maize, a kharif pulse (arhar, mungbean, urdbean, cluster bean), an oilseed (soybean, til), or take up a poplar-based agroforestry system on the diverted area
- Your District Programme Management Group has actually organised a cluster demonstration in your block for the current season
Excluded — even with land
- Continuing paddy cultivation on the identified diversion area — CDP funds the switch itself, not paddy grown alongside it
- Living outside a notified over-exploited/critical block or a notified tobacco-diversification district — CDP does not reach every paddy or tobacco farmer nationwide, only those in identified areas
- Expecting an individual online application — beneficiaries are identified by the District Programme Management Group as part of an organised cluster, not through a portal
- Wanting support for a crop outside the alternate-crop list in your state's action plan — the State Department of Agriculture fixes which crops a cluster demonstrates, based on quality seed availability
Where this scheme applies
A central scheme with pan-India coverage — open to eligible farmers in every State and Union Territory.
Documents you need
Have these ready before you start — the online form takes ten minutes when nothing is missing.
Aadhaar card
Used for beneficiary identification when the District Agriculture Officer finalises the cluster demonstration group.
Land record
Khasra/khatauni for the plot brought into the 10-hectare cluster demonstration, to confirm it lies inside a notified paddy or tobacco block.
Bank passbook
Needed for the land-development and marketing-support cash component to reach your account; collected by the State Department of Agriculture during cluster enrolment, not uploaded online by the farmer.
How to apply, step by step
The same six steps apply whether you register yourself online or sit down at a CSC.
- 1
Ground Water Board flags the blocks
The Central Ground Water Board identifies over-exploited and critical blocks in the major paddy-growing districts of Punjab, Haryana and Western UP for that year's diversion target.
- 2
State submits its action plan
The State Department of Agriculture proposes district-wise physical and financial targets — which alternate crops, how many hectares — and submits this to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare before field implementation.
- 3
District forms a 10-hectare cluster
The District Programme Management Group, chaired by the Additional Collector/Chief Development Officer, identifies beneficiary groups and organises a cluster demonstration unit of 10 hectares, naming one progressive farmer as group leader.
- 4
Inputs arrive before sowing
The State Department of Agriculture arranges seed, micronutrients and plant-protection chemicals for the identified alternate crop well ahead of the sowing or transplanting window.
- 5
Farmers sow the alternate crop, with machinery on hire
The cluster grows maize, a kharif pulse, an oilseed or a poplar-based system instead of paddy, with crop-specific machinery made available to the group on a custom-hiring basis.
- 6
Assistance and the performance incentive are released
Per-hectare assistance for inputs, land development and marketing reaches the cluster; separately, NCAP assesses how much area each state actually diverted, releasing the held-back 10% central incentive against performance.
Important dates
CDP launched
2013-14
₹500 crore announced in the Finance Minister's 2013-14 Budget speech, to divert paddy area in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP from kharif 2013-14 onward
Extended to tobacco states
2015-16
Same cluster-demonstration model extended to ten tobacco-growing states, to shift tobacco farmers to alternate cropping systems
Folded into RKVY, then PM-RKVY
RKVY (2013-14) → PM-RKVY (3 October 2024)
CDP has run as an RKVY sub-scheme since launch; the Cabinet's 3 October 2024 restructuring carried it forward as a PM-RKVY component
Demonstration area, 2020-21 to 2025-26
Punjab 9,460 ha · Haryana 53,723 ha · Western UP 61,349 ha
As told to Parliament — cluster demonstration area actually covered in the three CDP-implementing states
Facts last checked
2 September 2026
Against the 2013-14 CDP guidelines (nfsm.gov.in), PIB coverage of the scheme's continuation, area and assistance-rate figures, and a Parliament reply on state-wise demonstration area
Check your eligibility
Straight from the notified criteria. Nothing you enter leaves your phone.
0 of 4 answered
This checker applies the criteria in the official operational guidelines, but it is guidance — only the state government’s verification against the land records is final.
Downloads
Official documents only — everything below is hosted on the government's own servers.
Official links & helpline
Bookmark the portal itself — no third-party site can release, block or speed up a payment.
- Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfareagriwelfare.gov.in — the nodal department administering CDP under PM-RKVY
- Official RKVY / PM-RKVY portalrkvy.da.gov.in — State Annual Action Plans and component guidelines, including CDP
- National Food Security Missionnfsm.gov.in — hosts the CDP guidelines document
- Kisan Call CentreToll-free 1800-180-1551 — for CDP and other farm-scheme queries
Helpline
24×7 IVRS and help desk, run by the ministry — the call is the fastest way to check a stuck payment.
Frequently asked questions
What is CDP?
The Crop Diversification Programme is a PM-RKVY sub-scheme, running since 2013-14, that funds farmer clusters in Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh to divert a share of their paddy area to maize, pulses, oilseeds or agroforestry — and, since 2015-16, helps tobacco growers in ten more states shift to alternate crops.
Why does CDP target Punjab, Haryana and Western UP specifically?
These are the Original Green Revolution states, where decades of continuous rice-wheat cropping and flood-irrigated paddy depleted groundwater tables and stagnated crop yields — the concerns a Committee of Secretaries examined before CDP was designed.
Which crops can replace paddy under CDP?
Maize, kharif pulses (arhar, mungbean, urdbean, cluster bean), oilseeds (soybean, til), and a poplar-based agroforestry system are the alternate crops named in the scheme's guidelines; the State decides which ones a specific cluster demonstrates, based on quality seed availability.
How much financial assistance does CDP give?
Assistance is crop-specific and revised periodically. Current rates include ₹10,000/hectare for pulses, ₹14,000/hectare for groundnut, ₹11,500/hectare for hybrid maize, and ₹2,000/hectare for tree plantation, covering inputs, land development and marketing support.
What is the CDP funding pattern?
A 60:40 Centre:State cost-sharing ratio, with the State preparing district-wise action plans and the Centre releasing funds against them.
How does a farmer apply for CDP?
There is no individual online application. The District Programme Management Group identifies beneficiary farmers as part of an organised 10-hectare cluster demonstration; a farmer's actual entry point is asking the district Agriculture office whether their block has been notified for that season.
What is a CDP cluster demonstration unit?
A 10-hectare unit organised through an identified group of beneficiary farmers, with one progressive farmer designated as group leader to coordinate the demonstration and its inputs.
Does CDP also cover tobacco farmers?
Yes. From 2015-16, the programme was extended to ten tobacco-growing states — Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal — to help tobacco farmers shift to alternate cropping systems.
Is CDP the same as Haryana's "Mera Pani Meri Virasat" or Punjab's per-acre diversification payment?
No. Those are separate State-government schemes that pay farmers directly for not sowing paddy. CDP is the Centre's PM-RKVY sub-scheme funding crop demonstrations, machinery and inputs through district clusters; a State can, and does, run its own scheme alongside CDP.
What is the difference between CDP and PM-RKVY?
PM-RKVY is the umbrella scheme; CDP is one specific sub-scheme under it — the one that funds paddy and tobacco diversification, alongside other components like Rainfed Area Development or PKVY.
How much paddy area has CDP actually diverted?
Parliament has been told that between 2018-19 and 2024-25, roughly 1,86,546 hectares underwent alternate-crop demonstrations for paddy and tobacco replacement combined, with Punjab, Haryana and Western UP together covering over 1,24,000 hectares of cluster demonstrations between 2020-21 and 2025-26 alone.
Still have questions?
The FAQs above cover the common ones. For anything about your specific application, the ministry helpline 1800-180-1551 is the authoritative answer — and we are happy to point you in the right direction.