In a significant moment for community-led rural development models, Paani Foundation’s ‘Farmer Cup’ has received strong institutional support from the Government of Maharashtra.
On 16th March 2026, founders Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao, along with CEO Satyajit Bhatkal, met Hon’ble Chief Minister Shri Devendra Fadnavis to share progress on the Farmer Cup’s statewide scale-up. The Hon’ble Chief Minister (who’d also launched and announced the scaleup in 2025), expressed his strong support.
Building on this, the Government has enabled a dedicated extension mechanism to support the formation of farmer groups and hand-holding of groups for the Farmer Cup at scale. For the first time, officials from the Department of Agriculture and MSRLM (UMED) are officially being deputed across all talukas for four months (April–July), working exclusively on farmer mobilisation, group formation, and sustained on-ground support. Comprising a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 officials per taluka, these officials have volunteered to dedicatedly support farmers for this duration with group formation, motivation, hand-holding and Kharif season input supply.
A total of 1,200 officials will now undergo a 2-day residential training, equipping them to anchor this effort locally. To translate this into consistent action, Paani Foundation has introduced a Farmer Cup Mentorship Programme - a structured framework that gives these officials clear goals, accountability, and incentives.
Currently in the Farmer Cup, 3-day residential trainings are currently underway—having started on 5th January, with over 22,000 farmers trained so far. The trainings will continue until 5th May, with a clear mission to enable the formation of 15,000 farmer groups across Maharashtra, with a minimum of 1.5 lakh farmers participating.