Scheme for Fruit and Vegetable Preservation and Training Program in Horticulture Department HRT 5

What is the HRT 5 fruit and vegetable preservation training scheme?

The Scheme for Fruit and Vegetable Preservation and Training Program in Horticulture Department, referred to in Gujarat's scheme codes as HRT 5, is a skill-training scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, delivered by the Directorate of Horticulture. HRT 5 puts trainees through a short, practical course in preserving and adding value to fruits and vegetables, and pays them a stipend for attending.

According to the scheme description carried on the national myScheme repository, the department sanctions Rs 500 per trainee per day as training expenditure. That amount is split in a way worth understanding before you apply:

• Rs 250 per day goes directly to the trainee as a stipend.
• Rs 250 per day is spent by the department on material cost, the training literature kit, and honorarium for the subject experts and resource persons who run the sessions.

So the training itself is free to the participant, and the participant is additionally paid for the days attended.

What the training covers

Training runs for 2 to 5 days depending on the module, and the syllabus is deliberately hands-on rather than theoretical:

• Fruit and vegetable preservation, the core module, covering how to stop spoilage in seasonal produce.
• Canning; bottling and sealing methods for longer shelf life.
• Kitchen gardening, growing vegetables in the space available at a home, which is why urban participants are explicitly a target group.
• Value addition in horticultural produce — turning a low-value glut crop into a product that keeps and sells.

Who the scheme is designed for

HRT 5 is unusual among iKhedut schemes because it is not aimed at land-holding farmers. Gujarat's horticulture directorate designed it around women and urban citizens, with two stated goals: self-sustenance and nutritional well-being. The reasoning is straightforward. A household that can preserve a seasonal glut of mangoes, tomatoes or chillies eats better through the lean months and wastes less, and a woman who learns canning properly has the basis of a small home-based enterprise.

Who is eligible for HRT 5 training?

You can apply if:

• You are a resident of Gujarat.
• You are willing to participate in horticulture-related skill development training for the full duration of the batch.
• You can produce an Aadhaar card, ration card and bank account in your own name.

That is the entire eligibility test. The scheme places no condition on gender, profession, educational qualification, income level or land ownership. A homemaker, a college student, a shopkeeper and a farmer are all equally eligible.

You are not eligible, and cannot apply, if:

• You are not a resident of Gujarat.
• You are unwilling or unable to attend the training days. The stipend is paid for attendance, so a person who enrols and does not attend receives nothing.
• You cannot furnish the basic identity and bank documents required for the DBT payment.

Note also what the scheme is not. HRT 5 does not give a grant to set up a food-processing unit, does not supply free machinery, and does not certify you as a licensed food business. It is a short training programme with an attendance stipend. Setting up a processing enterprise afterwards is a separate journey through other horticulture or MSME schemes.

What documents are required?

The document list is deliberately short because the scheme has no land or income test. Make sure the name spelling matches across all three, since a mismatch is what usually delays a stipend payment.

How to apply for HRT 5 training on iKhedut

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and click Login at the top right, then choose Beneficiary Registration. Select your beneficiary type, Farmer, Institutional, or Except For the Farmer. Non-farmers should pick the non-farmer option.
2. Select your District, Taluka and Village, choose your account-holder type, enter your bank account number and name, solve the captcha and click Save and Next.
3. Enter your mobile number and email address, click Send OTP, enter the OTP, create and confirm a password, solve the captcha and click Submit.
4. Log in with the new credentials, open Schemes, then the horticulture or agricultural scheme list, and select the fruit and vegetable preservation training component.
5. Click Apply, then Apply New, and fill the form with your personal details, address and bank information.
6. Upload the Aadhaar card, ration card and bank passbook or cancelled cheque, then use Update Application if any correction is needed.
7. Confirm the application and take a printout of the confirmed form. Carry it to the training venue on the first day.

How to apply if you are not comfortable online

1. Visit a Common Service Centre or a village VCE centre with your Aadhaar card, ration card and bank passbook, and ask them to complete the iKhedut registration and application for you.
2. Contact the District Horticulture Officer in your district to ask when the next training batch is scheduled and where it will be held.
3. Ask a local Krishi Vigyan Kendra or Anganwadi worker, batches for women are often organised in coordination with local institutions.

How do I check my application and stipend status?

1. Log in to ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in with your registered mobile number and password.
2. Open your application list and check the status of the confirmed training application.
3. Wait for the batch allotment intimation, which tells you the venue and dates. Attendance is recorded at the venue.
4. After the batch ends, the Rs 250 per day stipend is released by Direct Benefit Transfer to the account you registered. Check your bank passbook or SMS alert rather than expecting a separate letter.

If the stipend has not arrived several weeks after the batch, contact the Directorate of Horticulture on 079-23256104 or Dir-bag@gujarat.gov.in with your application number and the batch dates.

Common reasons a claim fails, and how to avoid it

• Not attending the full batch. The stipend is a per-day attendance payment. Partial attendance means a partial or nil payment.
• Bank account in someone else's name. The stipend must reach the trainee.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, ration card and bank record.
• Application filled but not confirmed on iKhedut, so it never enters the queue.
• Batch capacity full for the district. Training batches have a fixed number of seats, so an application may be carried to the next batch rather than rejected outright.

Key dates and how batches are scheduled

HRT 5 has no single annual last date. The Directorate of Horticulture notifies training batches through the year as budget and venues allow, and iKhedut opens the component when applications are being taken. Because Gujarat has moved to iKhedut 2.0, where beneficiary registration with Aadhaar OTP is compulsory before any scheme form can be opened, complete that registration first so you are ready when a batch is announced. Preservation training is naturally clustered around harvest gluts, so applications filed ahead of the mango, tomato and chilli seasons stand the best chance of an early batch.

Help and grievance redressal

• Directorate of Horticulture, Gandhinagar: 079-23256104, Dir-bag@gujarat.gov.in
• Agriculture directorate (iKhedut): 079-23256200, ikhedut.gujarat@gmail.com
• District Horticulture Officer for batch scheduling and attendance disputes
• Address: Krishi Bhavan, Sector 10-A, CH Road, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

There is no cost to apply. The entire application process on iKhedut is free of charge, and nobody should be charging you a fee for a seat in a government training batch.