Installation of Anti-Hail Nets Scheme

What is the Installation of Anti-Hail Nets Scheme?

Installation of Anti-Hail Nets is a state sponsored scheme of the Department of Horticulture, Government of Himachal Pradesh, listed on the department's eUdyan portal alongside its other subsidy schemes. The scheme pays a large share of the cost of erecting a permanent net structure over a fruit orchard so that hail does not reach the fruit.

Hail is the single most destructive weather event for Himachal Pradesh's apple economy. A storm lasting a few minutes in April or May can strip leaves, snap new shoots and bruise the entire crop on a block of trees. Bruised apples do not recover; they are downgraded to processing grade and sold at a fraction of the table price. A grower can lose an entire year's income after having already spent the whole year's input cost.

Anti-hail netting is the only reliable protection. A net stretched on posts and wire above the canopy takes the impact and lets the fruit through the storm intact. Growers in Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Mandi and Sirmaur who installed nets have reported saving substantial amounts on a single storm. The problem is the capital cost of the structure, which is why the state carries 80 per cent of it.

The Department of Horticulture has moved towards supporting permanent structures made of steel and bamboo for installation of anti-hail nets, rather than temporary arrangements that are themselves destroyed by the first serious storm.

What does the scheme pay?

The Installation of Anti-Hail Nets scheme provides 80 per cent assistance on a maximum area of 5,000 square metres per beneficiary. The Horticulture Department's cost norm has been published at around Rs 35 per square metre, which puts the maximum assistance at roughly Rs 28 per square metre; the department has also worked with rates in the range of about Rs 22 to Rs 28.87 per square metre depending on the type of net approved.

At the ceiling area, 5,000 square metres at up to about Rs 28 per square metre comes to roughly Rs 1.4 lakh of assistance for a single grower, with the balance 20 per cent borne by the grower.

Two points about the ceiling are worth understanding before applying. First, 5,000 square metres is half a hectare, so most growers use the scheme on their highest-value block, typically the mature bearing trees of the best variety, rather than the whole holding. Second, the cost norm is what the subsidy is calculated on, not what you actually spend. If you buy a heavier net than the norm assumes, the extra cost is yours.

Assistance is back-ended: the grower installs first and claims afterwards.

Who is eligible for the anti-hail net scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a bonafide Himachali fruit grower with an orchard in Himachal Pradesh.
• The orchard land is recorded in your own name, supported by a jamabandi and tatima.
• Your orchard is in a hail-prone belt and the block you want netted is a bearing orchard worth protecting.
• You are prepared to bear 20 per cent of the cost yourself, plus anything above the departmental cost norm.
• You are a multi-cropping farmer growing both horticulture and agriculture crops. The scheme was extended so that such farmers can avail it.
• You hold a bank account in your own name.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a bonafide Himachali.
• The orchard is not in your name and there is no registered lease or written consent on record.
• You want assistance for more than 5,000 square metres in your own name. The per-beneficiary ceiling is firm.
• You have already installed the net before your case was sanctioned and now want reimbursement.
• You have already drawn assistance for anti-hail netting on the same area, from either the Horticulture Department or the Agriculture Department's merged scheme.
• You are not a grower: traders, packers and commission agents are not eligible for an individual benefit.

Being eligible does not by itself secure a sanction. Assistance depends on funds being released for the scheme in that financial year, and the Himachal press has reported years in which no budget was available for the anti-hail net scheme.

How to apply for the Installation of Anti-Hail Nets Scheme

1. Register on the eUdyan portal. Open eudyan.hp.gov.in, the Department of Horticulture's Integrated Horticulture Sector Management System, and create a farmer account. Keep the login ID and password.
2. Select the scheme. Log in and choose Installation of Anti Hail Nets from the state sponsored subsidy scheme list.
3. Fill in the application. Enter personal details, address, land or orchard details, and the project details. The exact area in square metres to be netted, the type of net and the structure design; followed by bank details.
4. Attach the documents. Upload the Aadhaar card, jamabandi, tatima, bank passbook, cost estimate with quotations and the self-certificate. Farmers are required to apply to the state horticulture department with documents relating to their Aadhaar card and land.
5. Submit and note the application number.
6. Get the orchard measured and inspected. The Horticulture Development Officer or Horticulture Extension Officer of your development block visits the orchard, measures the area proposed and forwards a report. Enrolment in the Himachal Pradesh Farmer Registry helps here, because it lets the department verify orchard area quickly.
7. Wait for the sanction or work order from the Subject Matter Specialist or Deputy Director of Horticulture before buying net or posts.
8. Install the structure to the design approved, and keep every bill for the net, posts, wire and labour.
9. File the claim. Submit the back-ended subsidy claim to your Horticulture Development Officer after the structure is complete and verified.

Offline route. A written application with the same documents can be given to the Horticulture Development Officer of your development block or to the Deputy Director of Horticulture at the district headquarters.

How do I check my application and subsidy status?

Log in to eudyan.hp.gov.in and use the application tracking option, which shows the stage of the case. For the physical file and for the question that actually matters — whether money has been released, contact the office of the Deputy Director of Horticulture at your district headquarters. Sanction and release are separate events under this scheme, and a sanctioned case can still be waiting on budget.

Ask for the sanction number and the date it was issued in writing. That single piece of paper is what lets you follow up later.

Why do anti-hail net claims get rejected or delayed?

• Orchard not recorded in the applicant's name, or a missing tatima.
• Area claimed exceeds 5,000 square metres, or the measured area on inspection is smaller than the area claimed.
• Installation done before sanction, so the pre-installation condition was never verified.
• Structure not to the approved design. Temporary arrangements in place of the approved permanent steel or bamboo structure are a ground for rejection.
• Duplicate assistance already drawn on the same area, including under the Agriculture Department's merged scheme.
• No budget released for the year. The Tribune has reported both long waits for anti-hail net subsidy among Himachal apple growers and a year in which there was no budget for the anti-hail net scheme. This is the most common cause of a long delay, and it is not something the district office can fix.

Which department should I apply to?

Himachal Pradesh supports anti-hail netting through two departments and applying at the wrong counter wastes a season.

The Department of Horticulture runs Installation of Anti-Hail Nets as a state sponsored scheme on eUdyan, and this is the route for fruit growers, above all apple orchardists.

The Department of Agriculture merged its anti-hail net structure component, along with Saur Badbandi and green house renovation, into Mukhyamantri Krishi Utpadan Sanrakshan Yojana, where financial assistance of up to 80 per cent is provided for anti-hail net structures over a maximum area of 5,000 square metres. Applications there go through the AgriDBT portal.

Apply to the department whose crops you grow, and do not file at both: duplicate assistance on the same area is not allowed.

What are the key dates?

The scheme has no announced last date. The two calendars that matter are the state financial year, which ends on 31 March and against whose allocation sanctions are made, and the hail season itself. Hail typically threatens Himachal orchards from spring through early summer, so a net that is only erected in July protects nothing that year. Work backwards: apply early in the financial year, push for the inspection, and have the structure up before the storms begin.

Where do I complain if something goes wrong?

Start with the Horticulture Development Officer of your development block, then the Subject Matter Specialist (Horticulture) and the Deputy Director of Horticulture of your district.

The Directorate of Horticulture, Himachal Pradesh is at Navbahar, Chotta Shimla, Shimla 171002, reachable on 0177-2842390 or at horticul-hp@nic.in. Portal problems go to the eUdyan helpdesk listed on the site. Where a sanction has issued but money has not been released, ask for the position in writing on the budget for the year, as that reply is what any grievance authority will want to see.