Mission for Cotton Productivity: Input Assistance for Close Spacing Technology (CST) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM)

What is the Mission for Cotton Productivity in Gujarat?

Mission for Cotton Productivity is a five-year Government of India mission running from 2026-27 to 2030-31, approved with a national outlay of about Rs 5,600 crore, and implemented in Gujarat by the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department through the i-Khedut portal. The mission's purpose is blunt: India's cotton yield per hectare has stagnated for more than a decade, and the mission tries to lift it by paying farmers to run demonstration plots using two specific, tested agronomic packages instead of habitual practice.

Gujarat is the country's largest cotton state by area, and the state has been approved an allocation of Rs 134.80 crore for the first year. According to the state agriculture department's announcement, that money is intended to bring more than one lakh hectares across 21 cotton-growing districts under the mission, including Kutch, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

The component covered by this guide is the input assistance for demonstration plots. A farmer agrees to sow one of two prescribed spacing patterns on a measured plot, buys certified or approved Bt cotton seed, and receives a fixed per-hectare cash assistance to offset the cost of seed, nutrients and plant protection. The assistance is not a loan and is not repayable.

The two packages and what they pay

Both are limited to a maximum of 2 hectares per farmer in a year. A farmer who puts the full 2 hectares under CST therefore draws Rs 28,000; the same area under ICM draws Rs 15,000. Locally the mission is often spoken of as the Kapas Kranti or cotton productivity mission, and kapas assistance is what most village-level notices call it.

Why does spacing carry different money?

Close Spacing Technology packs far more plants into the same hectare, at 90 cm x 30 cm a hectare carries roughly 37,000 plants against roughly 18,500 at 90 cm x 60 cm. That doubles seed requirement and demands tighter nutrient and pest discipline, and it works only with compact, short-duration varieties that will not run to vegetative growth. The higher Rs 14,000 rate reflects that higher input cost and higher risk.

Integrated Crop Management keeps conventional spacing but pays for the practice package around it: soil-test-based fertiliser, need-based irrigation, integrated pest management instead of calendar spraying. At Rs 7,500 per hectare it is the easier package for a first-time participant.

Who is eligible for the cotton productivity mission in Gujarat?

You are eligible if:

• You are a cotton-growing farmer resident in Gujarat, in one of the 21 notified cotton districts.
• You have land recorded in your own name, evidenced by 7/12 and 8-A extracts, and the survey number shows cotton in the current Kharif season.
• You are registered on the i-Khedut portal with an Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
• You sow government-certified cotton seed or an approved Bt cotton hybrid and can produce the purchase bill.
• You follow one of the two prescribed spacings on the plot you register, and allow field verification.
• You hold a bank account in your own name, Aadhaar-seeded, for DBT credit.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• Your land is outside the 21 notified cotton districts, or the plot is not under cotton this season.
• You used farm-saved, unlabelled or uncertified seed, or cannot produce a seed bill from a licensed dealer.
• The plot is sown at a spacing other than 90 cm x 30 cm or 90 cm x 60 cm, a plot at, say, 120 cm x 45 cm does not qualify under either package.
• You are claiming for more than 2 hectares in one year; area beyond 2 hectares is simply not payable.
• The same survey number has already been claimed by another applicant in the same season.
• The bank account is in someone else's name, including a spouse's or parent's account.

Tenant cultivators and sharecroppers without a recorded interest in the land face the usual difficulty: the 7/12 must connect the applicant to the plot. Where land is jointly held or stands in a family member's name, a written consent letter from the recorded holder is the accepted route.

How to apply for cotton mission input assistance on i-Khedut

1. Open the official portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and choose the Schemes (Yojana) section for the Agriculture department.
2. Register or log in. i-Khedut 2.0 authenticates the farmer by Aadhaar OTP on the Aadhaar-linked mobile number, or by biometric, so carry the phone that the Aadhaar is linked to.
3. Select the Mission for Cotton Productivity scheme and pick the component you want: Close Spacing Technology (CST) or Integrated Crop Management (ICM). You must choose one; the two rates are not combined on the same plot.
4. Fill in the applicant details, district, taluka and village, and enter the survey number and the area in hectares you are registering, up to 2 hectares.
5. Enter your bank account number and IFSC exactly as printed on the passbook, and confirm the account is Aadhaar-seeded.
6. Upload the scanned documents: Aadhaar, 7/12 and 8-A, bank passbook page, and the certified or Bt cotton seed purchase bill.
7. Submit the application, then use "Confirm Application". An unconfirmed application is not forwarded for scrutiny, and this is the single most common reason a farmer finds no record of their claim later.
8. Print the confirmed application, sign it, and submit it with self-attested copies at the taluka agriculture office / Gram Sevak if your taluka asks for a physical set.

How to apply offline or with help

1. Visit the Village Computer Entrepreneur (VCE) at the gram panchayat, or a common service centre, with all original documents.
2. Ask them to file the i-Khedut application on your Aadhaar-linked mobile number, and stay present for the OTP or biometric step.
3. Collect the printed application with its application number before you leave. Verify that the survey number, area and bank account printed on it are correct.
4. Approach your Gram Sevak, Extension Officer or the Taluka Agriculture Officer for verification and for any physical submission your taluka requires.

How do I check my cotton mission application status?

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and choose Application Status.
2. Enter your application number and the registered mobile number, then the captcha.
3. The screen shows the stage, submitted, confirmed, verified, sanctioned or paid.

Sanction is normally preceded by a field visit: the Gram Sevak or Extension Officer measures the plot and checks that the spacing actually on the ground matches the package claimed. Keep the plot intact and the seed bill available until that visit is done. Payment then reaches the Aadhaar-seeded account by DBT.

Why cotton mission applications get rejected

• Application submitted but never confirmed on the portal.
• Spacing on the ground does not match the claim — the commonest field-level rejection, and it cannot be fixed after sowing.
• Seed bill missing, illegible, or for uncertified seed.
• Area claimed exceeds 2 hectares, or exceeds the area shown in 8-A.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, or a name mismatch between Aadhaar and the bank record, which fails the DBT credit even after sanction.
• Duplicate claim on the same survey number by two applicants.
• Target exhausted for the taluka. The mission works to a district-wise physical target, and applications beyond the target may be kept pending or returned even if otherwise correct.

The practical fixes are ordinary: seed the bank account with Aadhaar before the window opens, buy seed only from a licensed dealer and keep the original bill, and lay out the plot at the exact spacing before you apply rather than deciding afterwards.

Key dates

• Mission period: 2026-27 to 2030-31.
• Gujarat first-year allocation: Rs 134.80 crore.
• 2026-27 i-Khedut application window: 10 July 2026 to 24 July 2026.
• Applications are tied to the Kharif sowing season, so the window opens around the start of the monsoon, not at the end of the crop.

Because the window is short; two weeks in 2026. The useful preparation is to keep the 7/12, 8-A, Aadhaar-linked mobile and a seeded bank account ready before the portal opens.

Where to complain or get help

• Taluka Agriculture Officer / Extension Officer (Agriculture) at the taluka panchayat, the first stop for verification delays and rejected claims.
• District Agriculture Officer for grievances the taluka does not resolve.
• i-Khedut portal help section at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in for portal, OTP and document-upload problems.

Applying is free. If anyone asks for a commission to get your cotton assistance sanctioned, that is not part of the scheme; report it to the District Agriculture Officer.