Cabinet on Friday agreed to extend a programme of handing Rs 6,000 ($86) a year to another 2.5 crore farmers of the country, farm minister Narendra Singh Tomar said.

In the interim budget for the 2019/20 fiscal year presented in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's last government had started the direct cash support programme for 12 crore poor and small farmers as part of efforts to placate growers struggling with weak crop prices.

The cabinet, the first under PM Modi's second term, also agreed to roll out a pension plan for farmers, Mr Tomar said.