Assistance to Farmers in Purchasing Nano Fertilizers Under the Agricultural Assistance Program for Farmers Other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

What is the nano fertilizer assistance scheme in Gujarat?

The Assistance to Farmers in Purchasing Nano Fertilizers is a component of the agricultural assistance programme for farmers other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, run by the Directorate of Agriculture under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. Applications are taken on the state's farmer subsidy portal, i-Khedut, at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.

Nano fertilizers are a recent change in Indian farm practice. Instead of a 45 kg bag of granular urea, a farmer uses a 500 ml bottle of nano urea or nano DAP sprayed on the leaf, where the nutrient is taken up directly. The stated advantages are lower transport and storage cost, less nutrient run-off into groundwater, and reduced dependence on subsidised granular fertilizer. The obstacle is that the per-bottle price is unfamiliar and farmers are reluctant to experiment on a standing crop.

Gujarat's scheme addresses that reluctance with a partial price subsidy: up to 50 per cent of the purchase price, capped at Rs 750 per hectare, for a maximum of 4 hectares per account. A farmer with four hectares can therefore draw up to Rs 3,000.

Key features

• Subsidy of up to 50 per cent of the nano fertilizer purchase price.
• Per-hectare ceiling of Rs 750.
• Area ceiling of 4 hectares per account.
• Restricted to farmers other than SC and ST, who have their own components.
• Applied for online on i-Khedut; payment is by Direct Benefit Transfer.

Who is eligible for the nano fertilizer subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer resident in Gujarat, cultivating land recorded in your name.
• You belong to a category other than Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.
• You hold a valid 7/12 and 8-A land record for the land you are claiming against.
• You have an Aadhaar-seeded bank account in your own name.
• You are purchasing nano fertilizer from a licensed dealer against a GST invoice.
• You apply while the component's window is open on i-Khedut.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are an SC or ST farmer. That is not a bar on assistance, only on this component, apply through the SC or ST component of the same programme, which carries its own budget on i-Khedut.
• You hold no land record in your own name. Pure tenant cultivators without a recorded interest generally cannot claim on i-Khedut.
• You are claiming for more than 4 hectares in the same account.
• You bought the product without a GST invoice, or from an unlicensed seller.
• Your bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, so DBT cannot reach you.
• You apply after the component window has closed for the year.

What documents are required?

Keep the purchase invoice legible and complete. It should name the product, nano urea or nano DAP, the pack size, the quantity, the rate and the dealer's GST number. An invoice missing the product name is the single most common reason a nano fertilizer claim is returned for correction.

How to apply for the nano fertilizer subsidy on i-Khedut

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and go to the Schemes section, then choose Agriculture Schemes (khet-vadi yojana).
2. Find the nano fertilizer component listed under assistance for farmers other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and check that its window shows as open.
3. Choose whether you are a registered applicant. If you already have an i-Khedut registration, sign in with your Aadhaar and registration number; if not, register as a new applicant.
4. Fill the application with your land survey number, village, taluka, district, area in hectares and your category.
5. Enter your bank account number and IFSC exactly as printed in the passbook.
6. Upload the 7/12 and 8-A record, Aadhaar, bank proof and the fertilizer purchase invoice.
7. Submit and confirm the application. i-Khedut treats an unconfirmed application as incomplete, and only confirmed applications can be printed.
8. Print the confirmed application, sign it, attach self-attested copies of every document, and submit it to your taluka or district agriculture office within the time the portal states.

How to check your i-Khedut application status

1. Return to ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and open the application status option.
2. Enter your application number and Aadhaar number to see the current stage.
3. If the status shows pending verification for a long time, follow up with your Village Level Extension Worker or the District Agriculture Officer, because verification of the land record and invoice happens at that level.
4. Once approved, the subsidy is credited by Direct Benefit Transfer to the Aadhaar-seeded account.

When can you apply?

i-Khedut does not keep every component open all year. The Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department opens component-wise windows as budget is released, and closes a component once its allocation is committed. The practical consequence for a farmer is that the nano fertilizer component may be open for a few weeks only, and applications outside that period are simply not accepted.

Check the i-Khedut scheme list, or ask your Village Level Extension Worker, before you buy. Purchasing first and looking for the window afterwards is the sequence that most often ends in an unclaimable bill.

Why nano fertilizer claims get rejected

• Component window closed when the application was filed.
• Invoice incomplete — no product name, no dealer GST number, or handwritten without a bill number.
• Land area claimed exceeds 4 hectares, so the excess is disallowed.
• 7/12 record not in the applicant's name, or an outdated extract.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which stops the DBT credit.
• Category mismatch. An SC or ST farmer applying under the non-SC/ST component.
• Printed application never submitted to the taluka office after online confirmation.
• Duplicate claim for the same land in the same cycle.

Most of these are procedural and can be corrected in the next window. The one that cannot be repaired is a purchase made outside a sanctioned window.

How nano fertilizer differs from a bag of urea

Understanding the product helps you judge whether the subsidy is worth claiming. Nano urea and nano DAP are liquid formulations sold in bottles, usually of 500 ml, and are sprayed on the leaf rather than broadcast on the soil. The nutrient is absorbed through the foliage, so a much smaller quantity of material delivers the nutrition.

That changes three practical things for a Gujarat farmer:

• Transport and storage. A bottle replaces a sack, which matters for a smallholder carrying inputs on a two-wheeler.
• Application method. Nano fertilizer needs a sprayer and a correctly timed foliar application, typically at defined crop stages. A farmer with no sprayer has an extra cost the subsidy does not cover.
• Role in the nutrient plan. Nano products are used alongside a basal soil application, not as a complete replacement for it in every crop. Ask your Village Level Extension Worker what schedule suits your crop before you switch.

The Rs 750 per hectare ceiling is calibrated to a top-up of this kind rather than to a farm's whole fertilizer bill, which is why the amount looks small against total input cost.

Help and grievance redressal

• i-Khedut portal: ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in; scheme list, application status and the list of open components
• Department: Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, agri.gujarat.gov.in
• Directorate of Agriculture, Gandhinagar: 079-23256101
• First point of contact: your Village Level Extension Worker or the District Agriculture Officer, who verify the land record and invoice

Applying on i-Khedut is free. No agent is authorised to charge for filing an i-Khedut application, and a dealer cannot promise a subsidy sanction as part of a sale.