Development of Manures & Fertilizers: Assistance for use of Soil Conditioner

What is the soil conditioner assistance in Goa?

Development of Manures and Fertilizers is a group of schemes run by the Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Goa, and Assistance for use of Soil Conditioner is the state-funded component within it that subsidises the purchase of soil conditioners and agricultural lime for improvement of soil health.

According to the Directorate's published schemes and services list, the component pays a 75% subsidy limited to Rs 6,000 per hectare to all categories of farmer, for a maximum of 4 hectares per farmer.

The reason the component exists is specific to Goa's soil. Much of the state's cultivated land is laterite, naturally acidic and low in bases, and the coastal khazan lands carry their own salinity and pH problems. A soil test that comes back with a low pH or a base deficiency is not corrected by adding more NPK fertiliser, it is corrected by adding a conditioner or agricultural lime first, so that the fertiliser the farmer already buys actually becomes available to the crop. The component's stated purpose is to amend the soil on the basis of soil test reports, address pH and nutrient deficiencies in fertilisation practice, and address soil deficiencies that affect crop performance.

Key features

• 75% subsidy on the purchase of soil conditioners and agricultural lime.
• Ceiling of Rs 6,000 per hectare, applying to all categories of farmer without distinction between general and SC or ST applicants.
• Maximum 4 hectares per farmer, so the practical ceiling is Rs 24,000.
• Subsidy paid through the Electronic Clearance System (ECS).
• Krishi Card is the gateway document.
• Applications are made offline through the Zonal Agriculture Officer of your taluka.
• Soil sample analysis is free of cost under the same group of schemes.

Who is eligible and who is not eligible for this assistance?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer carrying out agricultural activities in the State of Goa and you hold a Krishi Card.
• You are an institution or private limited company engaged in agricultural activities in Goa holding a Krishi Card.
• You have purchased soil conditioner or agricultural lime and hold the cash invoice for it.
• You can show the area under cultivation for which the assistance is claimed, within the 4-hectare cap.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You do not hold a Krishi Card. This is the single hard gate across the Directorate's subsidy schemes.
• Your agricultural activity is outside Goa.
• You are claiming for more than 4 hectares, which is the published per farmer limit.
• You have no cash invoice for the purchase, so the admissible subsidy cannot be computed.
• You are claiming a material that is not a soil conditioner or agricultural lime, micronutrients, organic manure units and vermicompost units each have their own separate components with their own rates.

How much subsidy do I actually get?

Two limits bite in sequence, and farmers regularly misread the order. The 75% rate applies to what you actually spent, and the Rs 6,000 per hectare figure is a ceiling on that result, not an entitlement. A farmer with two hectares who spends Rs 10,000 on lime gets 75% of Rs 10,000, which is Rs 7,500, because that is below the Rs 12,000 ceiling for two hectares. A farmer with one hectare who spends Rs 20,000 gets Rs 6,000, not Rs 15,000, because the per hectare ceiling caps the claim.

What documents are required?

The soil test report is the document worth getting right, and it costs nothing. Soil sample analysis from farmers' fields for major and minor nutrients is provided free of cost by the Directorate. Drawing a proper sample before buying lime tells you how much you need, which in turn keeps the invoice proportionate to the claim.

How to apply for the soil conditioner subsidy

1. Get your soil tested first. Approach your Zonal Agriculture Officer and submit a soil sample for free analysis of major and minor nutrients. The report tells you the pH correction and the quantity of conditioner or lime your plot needs.
2. Obtain your Krishi Card from the Directorate of Agriculture if you do not already hold one. Without the Krishi Card abstract the application does not proceed, whatever else you attach.
3. Visit your Zonal Agriculture Officer and request a hard copy of the prescribed application form from the staff entrusted with issuing and collecting filled-in applications.
4. Purchase the soil conditioner or agricultural lime and keep the cash invoice, which is what the 75% is calculated on.
5. Fill in all the mandatory fields in the form, stating the area in hectares for which the assistance is claimed, and attach self-attested copies of the Krishi Card abstract, the Soil Health Card or soil test report, the cash invoice, the proof of area and your bank account details.
6. Submit the signed application with the documents to the Zonal Agriculture Officer, within any period the Directorate prescribes for that financial year.
7. Await scrutiny and sanction. The subsidy is then released through the Electronic Clearance System into your bank account.

How do I check the status of my application?

The scheme runs offline, so there is no online tracker. The Zonal Agriculture Officer of your taluka is the first point of contact for the status of a sanction, and the Directorate lists that officer as the contact for all scheme-related queries. For general queries the Kisan Call Centre on 1800-180-1551 and the Directorate of Agriculture on 0832-2465848 are the published numbers. Keep a copy of the submitted form and the acknowledgement, because the file is identified by your Krishi Card number.

Why soil conditioner claims get reduced or rejected

• No Krishi Card, which closes every Directorate scheme, not only this one.
• No cash invoice, so there is nothing to apply the 75% to.
• Area claimed above 4 hectares, beyond the published per farmer cap.
• Claim computed on the invoice alone, ignoring the Rs 6,000 per hectare ceiling that overrides it.
• No soil test report, leaving the amendment unjustified when the whole component is premised on correcting tested deficiencies.
• Purchase of a material outside the component, such as micronutrients, which belong to a different component with a different rate.
• Agricultural activity outside Goa.
• Bank details missing or incorrect, which stalls the ECS transfer even after sanction.

What are the other components of Development of Manures and Fertilizers?

The same group of schemes carries several components a Goan farmer can use in the same year, each with its own rate:

• Soil sample analysis for major and minor nutrients: free of cost.
• Assistance for use of micro-nutrients such as Boron, Magnesium Sulphate and other notified micronutrients, 75% subsidy limited to Rs 7,500 per hectare, maximum 4 hectares per farmer.
• Construction or installation of biogas plants, 90% subsidy against the standard cost, by size of plant, plus an incentive of Rs 1,000 per plant completed and commissioned for field staff and farmers who motivate the target group.
• Organic manure units — 75% subsidy limited to Rs 1,950 per cubic metre for built units, and 90% for portable units up to 3 units and Rs 7,500 per farmer.
• Vermi-compost units. The same rates as organic manure units, for built and portable vermibeds.
• Assistance for agriculture inputs to SC and ST farmers; 75% subsidy limited to Rs 12,000 per hectare, maximum 2 hectares.

Read together, these components are meant to be used in sequence: test the soil free, correct the pH with subsidised lime or conditioner, correct micronutrient gaps with the micronutrient component, and build a compost or vermicompost unit so that the organic matter comes from the farm itself.

Where to get help

• Directorate of Agriculture, Government of Goa; 0832-2465848.
• Kisan Call Centre, 1800-180-1551.
• Your Zonal Agriculture Officer, who issues the form, receives the application and reports on sanction status.
• agri.goa.gov.in, for scheme documents, Krishi Card requirements and circulars.

There is no fee to apply and no agent is involved. Any request to relax a condition of the scheme, or a question on how a clause should be read, is decided by the Directorate and the Government rather than at the zonal office.