Fodder Minikits under Tribal Area Sub Plan (TASP) Scheme (ST Category)

What is the Fodder Minikits under Tribal Area Sub Plan scheme?

The Fodder Minikits under Tribal Area Sub Plan (TASP) scheme is a fodder development component run by the Directorate of Animal Husbandry under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department of the Government of Gujarat. The Tribal Area Sub Plan is the budgetary channel through which Indian states earmark a share of departmental spending for Scheduled Tribe areas and Scheduled Tribe beneficiaries, so the "TASP" label tells you who the component is reserved for rather than describing a separate scheme design.

The scheme distributes minikits of improved-variety fodder seed to Scheduled Tribe farmers and livestock keepers. The kits come in three sizes; 3 kg, 7 kg and 10 kg, and are given free, in kind. There is no cash element.

Why the state gives away fodder seed

Gujarat's rural economy leans heavily on livestock. The Directorate of Animal Husbandry records 18,968 milk producer co-operative societies in the state with around 3.4 million members. The binding constraint on milk yield in most smallholder households is not the animal and not veterinary care. It is green fodder. A buffalo fed on crop residue and whatever grows on field bunds produces a fraction of what the same animal produces on cultivated green fodder.

Improved fodder varieties: better yielding grasses and legumes than the local material a farmer would otherwise sow: can lift green fodder output substantially from the same quarter-acre. But a farmer will not spend money on unfamiliar seed on the strength of an extension officer's word. The minikit removes that risk entirely: the seed is free, the plot is small, and the farmer judges the result against the field next door. This is why the scheme is described as a demonstration programme. The kit is not intended to meet a year's fodder requirement; it is intended to convert one farmer into a repeat buyer of improved fodder seed.

The Directorate reports roughly 1,70,000 fodder demonstration plots and minikits distributed in 2025-26 across all its fodder development components, alongside 2,384 subsidised power-driven chaff cutters. The TASP component is the Scheduled Tribe share within that programme.

Who is eligible for the TASP fodder minikit in Gujarat?

You can apply if:

• You are a permanent resident of Gujarat.
• You belong to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, evidenced by a caste certificate from the competent revenue authority.
• You own at least 10 Guntha of land. Ten Guntha is one quarter of an acre to 40 Guntha make an acre, or roughly 1,012 square metres. The holding is established from the 7/12 and 8-A revenue extracts.

Those three conditions apply together. The land condition is the one that disqualifies most applicants, and it exists for a practical reason: a fodder minikit is useless to someone with nowhere to sow it, and a plot smaller than a quarter-acre will not produce a demonstration worth looking at.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• You are not from a Scheduled Tribe. Non-tribal farmers are served by the general fodder development component, and Scheduled Caste farmers by the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan version of the same programme. The department runs the same intervention through three separate budget channels, and applying to the wrong one wastes a season.
• You own less than 10 Guntha of land, or hold no land at all. A landless livestock keeper, however genuine, cannot be given a minikit under this component.
• You are not a permanent resident of Gujarat.
• You cannot produce revenue records in your own name to establish the holding. Cultivating family land recorded in a father's or brother's name is a frequent practical obstacle: get the record corrected or apply in the name of the recorded holder.

How to apply for the fodder minikit under TASP

The scheme is administered offline through the Directorate's veterinary field network. There is no online application. Follow these steps.

1. Collect the Scheduled Tribe caste certificate. Obtain it from the Mamlatdar or the competent revenue authority if you do not already hold one. Check that the spelling of your name matches your Aadhaar and your land record.
2. Obtain current 7/12 and 8-A extracts. These are the documents that prove the 10 Guntha holding. Take recent copies rather than old ones, since the dispensary will check the current entry.
3. Visit the nearest Veterinary Dispensary or First Aid Veterinary Centre. These are the Directorate's field units; Gujarat operates over 675 dispensaries along with 460 mobile units — and they are where the minikits are held and distributed. Ask for the fodder minikit under the Tribal Area Sub Plan.
4. Fill in the application or beneficiary form given at the dispensary, and attach self-attested copies of the caste certificate, identity proof, residence proof and land records. Carry the originals for verification at the counter.
5. Ask for an acknowledgement. Note the date and any inward number. In an offline scheme this is your only record of having applied.
6. Collect the minikit when the batch arrives. The veterinary officer will tell you which pack size to 3 kg, 7 kg or 10 kg: has been allotted against your holding, and when distribution for your area is scheduled. Sign the distribution register on collection.

What documents are needed?

The list is short, and every item on it has a specific job.

• Scheduled Tribe caste certificate, establishes eligibility under the Tribal Area Sub Plan.
• Identity proof: Aadhaar card or Voter ID.
• Residence proof: ration card, electricity bill or a Talati certificate, establishing permanent residence in Gujarat.
• Land ownership record to 7/12 and 8-A extracts showing at least 10 Guntha.
• Bank passbook first page: not needed for the kit itself, which is a benefit in kind, but often recorded in the dispensary's beneficiary register.

How do I check the status of the application?

Because there is no portal, status is checked in person at the same veterinary dispensary where the form was submitted, quoting the date and inward number from your acknowledgement.

Distribution is driven by the district's annual physical target and by seed availability, both of which are tied to the sowing calendar. If your name is on the dispensary's list but no kit has arrived, the usual explanation is that the consignment for that block has not yet been received rather than that your application was refused. Ask the veterinary officer specifically whether your name appears on the current distribution list, and if not, whether it has been carried to the next round.

Why do fodder minikit applications get rejected?

• Land holding below 10 Guntha, or land records that do not show the applicant as the holder. This is the leading reason.
• Land recorded in a relative's name while the applicant cultivates it.
• Caste certificate missing or not from a competent authority.
• Wrong sub-plan. A Scheduled Caste or general-category farmer applying under the TASP component is redirected, losing the season.
• District target exhausted for the year, or seed stock for the block finished before the applicant's turn.
• Applied after sowing time. A minikit collected after the sowing window has closed is of no use, and dispensaries will often defer such applicants to the next season rather than issue a kit that will sit unused.

What are the key dates?

No statewide last date is published. The real deadline is agronomic rather than administrative: fodder seed has to be in the ground at the start of the sowing season, so the distribution runs ahead of sowing and the target for each district is worked through in that window. Approach the veterinary dispensary with your documents before the sowing season begins, not after, and ask the veterinary officer when the minikit distribution for your block is scheduled.

Where do I complain if something goes wrong?

Begin with the veterinary officer at the dispensary or first aid veterinary centre where you applied, most problems here are stock and scheduling problems that the field unit can answer directly.

If the application has been refused on grounds you dispute, or your name has been left off successive distribution rounds, escalate to the district animal husbandry office, and above that to the Regional Joint Director of Animal Husbandry for your region. The Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Gujarat publishes its office addresses and regional contacts at https://doah.gujarat.gov.in under the Contact section.

The Directorate does not publish a dedicated toll-free helpline for this component, so use the published district or regional office contact. The minikit is free; no payment of any kind should be made to any person to obtain one.