Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM)

Most Indian farms are too small to justify buying a tractor. A government scheme solves this in a simple way. It lets farmers rent machinery instead, at a village-level hiring centre.

What SMAM Is

SMAM gives India’s small farmers a way around one basic problem: machines cost more than their land can justify.

• The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) was launched in 2014-15. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare runs it, as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
• SMAM does not stand alone. It sits inside a larger umbrella scheme, which has changed its name more than once. As of 2026, that umbrella is the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (PM-RKVY).

Reaching the Unreached

SMAM’s own slogan sums up its goal: bring machines to farmers who could never afford them alone.

• SMAM calls its aim “reach the unreached.” It targets small and marginal farmers, women, SC/ST farmers, FPOs, SHGs, and rural entrepreneurs.
• Its flagship tool is the Custom Hiring Centre (CHC). A CHC is a set of farm machines, kept ready for hire. A farmer can use a costly machine for a day, without ever owning one.
• SMAM also funds Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs), and hubs for hi-tech, high-value equipment.
• Funding is shared between the Centre and the states. Most states get 60:40 Centre-state funding. North-Eastern and Himalayan states get 90:10. Union Territories get full, 100% Central funding.

Subsidy Rates for Farmers

SMAM does not pay every farmer the same subsidy rate.

• A general beneficiary gets a machinery subsidy of 40% of cost. SC/ST farmers, small and marginal farmers, and North-Eastern beneficiaries get a higher 50% instead.
• This subsidy is paid straight to the farmer’s bank account, through Direct Benefit Transfer.
• North-Eastern states get even more support in some cases. They can get up to 100% subsidy for small machinery, and 95% support to set up a Farm Machinery Bank.

Beyond the Individual Subsidy

Individual farmers are not the only ones SMAM funds. It also backs shared infrastructure and new technology.

• A Custom Hiring Centre project gets 40% financial support, capped at ₹250 lakh. A Farm Machinery Bank gets 80% support, capped at ₹30 lakh.
• SMAM funds drone use in farming too. A body like ICAR can get up to ₹10 lakh per drone. A Farmer-Producer Organisation can get grant support of up to 75%.
• SMAM sets aside 30% of its total funds for women farmers. See SciTech0001 — Science and Technology in Agriculture, Food and Industry for the wider tech context this mechanization push fits into.

Three Names, One Umbrella

SMAM itself has kept its name since 2014. Its parent umbrella scheme has not.

• SMAM began under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) in 2014. From 2017, that umbrella was renamed RKVY-RAFTAR.
• In October 2024, the government restructured farm schemes into two broad umbrellas. SMAM moved again, this time under PM-RKVY, where it sits today.
• A Custom Hiring Centre works like a machinery-rental cooperative. It solves a real problem: a small landholding rarely earns enough to justify buying a costly harvester outright.

Exam Trap — Know Which Rate Applies

Two common mix-ups show up again and again in questions on this topic.

• Flat-Rate Trap: SMAM is not one flat subsidy line. The 40-50% individual subsidy, the 40% CHC support, and the 80% Farm Machinery Bank support are three separate funding lines, each with its own cap.
• A question can swap these figures between categories, to test whether you know which rate applies to which component.
• Umbrella-Name Trap: SMAM is a sub-mission, not the umbrella scheme itself. It has sat under three different umbrella names since 2014: RKVY, then RKVY-RAFTAR, then PM-RKVY.
• A question naming an outdated umbrella for the current period is testing whether you tracked this 2024 restructuring, not whether you know SMAM’s core purpose.

Current Affairs — SMAM’s Scale

A July 2026 PIB backgrounder gave SMAM’s full cumulative scale, from its 2014-15 launch through 2025-26.

• Central assistance reached ₹9,404.47 crore. That funded 21.61 lakh machines, 27,554 Custom Hiring Centres, 646 Hi-Tech Hubs, and 25,608 Farm Machinery Banks.
• Individual beneficiaries grew from 2.07 lakh in 2020-21, to 2.32 lakh in 2024-25.
• The same backgrounder detailed SMAM’s drone push. Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, ICAR and its partners ran 40,928 Kisan Drone demonstrations, across 40,918 hectares, backed by ₹52.5 crore in support. (Source: PIB Backgrounder)