Assistance for Tools, Equipment, Shorting/Grading Equipment, PHM Equipment for General Category (HRT-2)

What is the HRT-2 tools, equipment and PHM equipment assistance?

Assistance for Tools, Equipment, Shorting/Grading Equipment, PHM Equipment for General Category (HRT-2) is a component of the horticulture development programme run by the Directorate of Horticulture, under Gujarat's Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. HRT-2 is the department's internal scheme code; farmers usually meet it as one line in the horticulture list on the iKhedut portal rather than as a named scheme.

The component covers the equipment that sits between harvest and market. That includes hand tools and small equipment used in orchards and vegetable plots, sorting and grading equipment (the portal spells this "shorting/grading"), and post-harvest management (PHM) equipment such as crates, cleaning and grading lines and basic packhouse gear. Gujarat's horticulture output, mango, banana, potato, onion, papaya, cumin and vegetables: loses a significant share of value to poor grading and rough handling, and this component exists to reduce that loss at the farm gate.

The Directorate of Horticulture pays the assistance as a percentage of the purchase cost, subject to a per-unit ceiling. Both the percentage and the ceiling are fixed component-wise in the department's annual administrative approval and are displayed against each item on the iKhedut scheme page when the window opens. Because those figures are revised from year to year and vary by equipment type, a farmer should read the rate shown on the portal for the specific item, in the specific year, rather than rely on a figure quoted elsewhere.

Who is eligible for this HRT-2 component?

You can apply if:

• You are a General Category farmer, or a farmer group, farmer producer organisation or co-operative society in the General Category.
• You hold cultivable land in Gujarat with a 7/12 and 8-A record in your name, and grow horticulture crops on it.
• You have an active bank account that can receive Direct Benefit Transfer.
• You apply while the component's window is open on the iKhedut portal.
• You buy the equipment after receiving pre-approval, from a supplier recognised by the Directorate of Horticulture.

You cannot apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe category. Those farmers are not eligible under this General Category component and must apply under the corresponding SC or ST component, which usually carries a higher rate of assistance.
• You have no land record in Gujarat in your own name or in the name of the applying group.
• You already bought the equipment before applying and before pre-approval was issued.
• You have drawn assistance for the same item within the department's prescribed cooling-off period, which is checked against your iKhedut history.
• You are applying from outside Gujarat.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the HRT-2 equipment assistance

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and go to the Schemes section, then choose Horticulture Schemes (બાગાયતી યોજનાઓ).
2. Find the component for tools, equipment, sorting/grading equipment and PHM equipment, and read the instructions shown for HRT-2, including the assistance rate and ceiling notified for the current year.
3. Register or log in as a farmer. If you have applied on iKhedut before, use "Existing applicant"; otherwise register with your Aadhaar and mobile number.
4. Fill the application with your land survey number, the crop grown, and the exact equipment you intend to buy.
5. Submit the form online and note the application number shown on screen.
6. Print the application, sign it, attach copies of your Aadhaar, 7/12 and 8-A and bank passbook, and deliver the set to your taluka or district horticulture office within the days stated on the printout. An online application that is never confirmed on paper lapses.
7. Wait for pre-approval (પૂર્વ મંજૂરી) from the horticulture office before buying anything.
8. Buy the equipment, then submit the original invoice and any installation proof to the same office for the subsidy claim.

How to apply offline

1. Visit your taluka horticulture office or the district Deputy Director of Horticulture office and ask for help with the iKhedut entry. Applications are accepted only through the portal, so the office or a Village Computer Entrepreneur makes the online entry for you.
2. Hand over copies of your Aadhaar, 7/12 and 8-A, and bank passbook.
3. Collect the printed application with its application number, sign it, and leave it with the office along with the document set.

How to check your application status

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and select the application status option.
2. Enter your application number and the registered mobile number.
3. The screen shows whether the application is pending, pre-approved, rejected, or whether the claim has been passed for payment.

Farmers can also print or re-upload their application from the same menu. For anything the portal does not explain, the taluka horticulture office holds the physical file and can say exactly which document is missing.

Why HRT-2 equipment claims get rejected

• Buying before pre-approval. The most frequent cause of refusal.
• Category mismatch, a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe farmer applying under the General Category component.
• Online application never confirmed on paper at the taluka office.
• Land record not in the applicant's name, or a survey number that does not match the 7/12.
• Invoice from a supplier not recognised by the Directorate of Horticulture, or an invoice without GST details.
• Target exhausted for the year. iKhedut components run against a fixed physical and financial target; once it is used, later applications are held or returned even if the farmer is fully eligible.
• Bank account not active or not matching the name on the application, which stalls the DBT.

Help and grievance redressal

• Taluka horticulture office — first stop for document and pre-approval questions.
• District Deputy Director of Horticulture, for sanction and payment disputes.
• Directorate of Horticulture, Gandhinagar, the state-level authority for HRT-2 components, reachable through doh.gujarat.gov.in.
• iKhedut portal; ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in, for application status, reprints and the current year's rates.

Applying is free. Any person demanding money to "approve" an iKhedut horticulture subsidy is not acting for the Gujarat government.