Assistance for Power Driven Chaff Cutter Scheme under Integrated Fodder Development Scheme (General Category)

What is the Power Driven Chaff Cutter assistance scheme?

Assistance for Power Driven Chaff Cutter Scheme is a component of the Integrated Fodder Development Scheme run by the Directorate of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. The scheme helps a dairy farmer buy an electric or power-operated chaff cutter, the machine that chops green and dry fodder into short lengths before it is fed to cattle.

Assistance for Power Driven Chaff Cutter Scheme pays up to 75 per cent of the purchase cost, subject to a ceiling of Rs 18,000, whichever of the two is lower. The grant is deposited directly into the beneficiary's bank account after the purchase is made and verified. This specific component is reserved for applicants of the General category; parallel components exist for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries.

The underlying problem is fodder wastage. When whole stalks of jowar, bajra or sugarcane tops are thrown into a manger, cattle eat the soft parts and trample the rest, and a significant share of the fodder a farmer grows or buys never becomes milk. Chopping fodder into short lengths removes the animal's ability to be selective. That is why the Integrated Fodder Development Scheme funds chaff cutters alongside fodder seed distribution and silage support: the department is buying feed efficiency, not machinery.

Key features

• Capital subsidy on a single power driven chaff cutter per eligible beneficiary.
• Ceiling of Rs 18,000 or 75 per cent of cost, whichever is less.
• Paid by direct bank transfer after purchase, not as an advance.
• Applications are taken only on the iKhedut portal, ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.
• Component-wise application windows, not a permanently open scheme.
• Physical verification of the installed machine before release of the grant.

Who is eligible for the chaff cutter subsidy?

A cattle keeper can apply if all of the following are true:

• The applicant belongs to the General category, which is the category this particular component is earmarked for.
• The applicant owns a minimum of 5 animals. Cattle and buffaloes maintained for milk are what the component is designed around.
• The applicant is a permanent resident of Gujarat.
• The applicant has an Aadhaar-seeded bank account capable of receiving a direct benefit transfer.
• The applicant has not already drawn assistance for a chaff cutter under this or a comparable component within the cooling-off period the department applies to durable equipment.

Who cannot apply

• Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe applicants are not eligible under this component. They are not excluded from the benefit, the department runs separate Scheduled Castes Sub Plan and Tribal Area Sub Plan chaff cutter components with their own budget lines and often more favourable assistance rates. Applying under the wrong component is a common cause of rejection and it wastes an application window.
• A cattle keeper with fewer than 5 animals cannot apply under this component.
• Residents of other states cannot apply, even where they graze animals in Gujarat seasonally.
• Applicants who have already received a chaff cutter subsidy recently cannot claim a second machine.
• Anyone applying outside an announced application window will find the component simply does not appear on the iKhedut menu.

What documents are required?

Keep the animal ownership proof current. A dairy co-operative membership card showing regular milk pouring is often the easiest document to obtain and the most persuasive, because it demonstrates an active dairy operation rather than a one-time head count.

How to apply for the chaff cutter subsidy on iKhedut

1. Open the official portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and go to the Schemes section, then choose Animal Husbandry Schemes.
2. Check whether the Power Driven Chaff Cutter (General Category) component shows as open. If the window is closed, the component will not accept a new application and you must wait for the next announced window.
3. Select Apply, then answer whether you are a registered applicant. A first time user chooses "not registered" and completes a fresh registration with Aadhaar and mobile number.
4. Fill the application form with your personal details, village and taluka, bank account number and IFSC, number of animals owned and category.
5. Submit the application and note the application number displayed on screen.
6. Confirm the application. iKhedut requires a separate confirmation step after submission. An unconfirmed application is not treated as filed, and this catches out a large number of first-time users every year.
7. Print the confirmed application, sign it, attach self-attested copies of all documents, and submit the set to your taluka or district animal husbandry office within the days allowed on the printout.
8. Wait for pre-approval, then buy the chaff cutter from an approved supplier and submit the invoice for verification.

How to apply offline or with assistance

1. Visit a Village Computer Entrepreneur at the Gram Panchayat, a Common Service Centre, or a cyber cafe if you cannot use the portal yourself. iKhedut has no paper-first route — every application must be entered online.
2. Have the operator complete the online form in your presence and collect the printout with the application number before leaving.
3. Submit the signed printout with documents at the taluka animal husbandry office or the district panchayat's animal husbandry branch, and take a stamped receipt.

How is the money paid?

The grant is a reimbursement, not an advance. The sequence is: application, pre-approval by the department, purchase of the machine from an approved supplier, physical verification of the installed machine by an officer, and only then credit of up to Rs 18,000 to the bank account.

A farmer who buys the chaff cutter before receiving pre-approval takes a real risk: purchases made before sanction are routinely rejected because the department cannot verify that the machine was bought under the scheme. Wait for the approval letter.

The 75 per cent rate means a machine costing Rs 24,000 attracts the full Rs 18,000 ceiling, while a machine costing Rs 20,000 attracts Rs 15,000. Buying a more expensive machine does not increase the grant beyond Rs 18,000.

How do I check my iKhedut application status?

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and select the application status option from the main menu.
2. Enter your application number and the registered mobile number or Aadhaar number as prompted.
3. Read the status: submitted, confirmed, pending at taluka, approved, or rejected with a reason.

If the status remains "submitted" rather than "confirmed" for any length of time, the confirmation step was missed. That application will not progress and the only fix is to file again in the next window.

Why do chaff cutter applications get rejected?

• Application not confirmed after submission. The most common technical failure on iKhedut.
• Wrong category component chosen, typically an SC or ST applicant filing under the General component.
• Fewer than 5 animals shown in the ownership proof.
• Bank details mismatched, a name on the passbook that does not match Aadhaar, or a wrong IFSC.
• Physical copy not submitted to the taluka office within the allowed days after online submission.
• Purchase made before sanction, so the invoice cannot be linked to an approved application.
• Budget exhausted for the component in that financial year, which produces a rejection that is nothing to do with the applicant's merits. Reapply in the next window.

Where do I raise a grievance?

• Taluka animal husbandry office or the district panchayat animal husbandry branch is the first stop for a stalled application, since that is where the physical file sits.
• Deputy Director of Animal Husbandry at the district level handles escalations against the taluka office.
• Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Gujarat, at doah.gujarat.gov.in, is the state-level authority for the Integrated Fodder Development Scheme.
• iKhedut portal helpdesk handles technical faults such as a form that will not confirm or an OTP that does not arrive.

Applying on iKhedut is free. No agent can guarantee approval, and no officer is entitled to a payment for processing a chaff cutter application. Approval depends on the component's budget and on the documents, not on any intermediary.