Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana

What is Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana?

Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana is a Himachal Pradesh state scheme announced by the Chief Minister in the 2024-25 state budget as the third component of the Rs 680 crore Rajiv Gandhi Yojana package. The Department of Agriculture is the implementing department, and the scheme's purpose is to move farmers away from chemical inputs and give them a guaranteed government market for what chemical-free farming produces.

The scheme was announced with an allocation of Rs 50 crore and a first-phase target of 36,000 farmers, taken up by encouraging at least 10 farmers from every panchayat in Himachal Pradesh. The word "start-up" in the name refers to the second intent behind the scheme: giving unemployed rural youth a route into self-employment through natural farming enterprises rather than only supporting existing farmers.

Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana builds on the older Prakritik Kheti Khushhal Kisan Yojana, which Himachal Pradesh launched in 2018-19 to promote Subhash Palekar-style natural farming. That programme discourages chemical inputs and instead recommends preparations made from indigenous cow dung, cow urine and local plant material. The start-up scheme adds the missing piece. An assured buyer and an assured price.

Key features

• Rs 50 crore announced in the Himachal Pradesh Budget 2024-25.
• 36,000 farmers targeted in the first phase, 10 per panchayat.
• Guaranteed state MSP purchase of naturally grown grain, capped at 20 quintals per family.
• Free self-certification of natural produce through the state's own system.
• Delivered through the Department of Agriculture's ATMA machinery at block level.

How much does Himachal Pradesh pay for natural farming produce?

Himachal Pradesh is the first state in India to fix a minimum support price for natural-farming produce, a point the Department of Agriculture makes explicitly on its scheme page. This is the core benefit of the start-up yojana: a farmer who converts to chemical-free cultivation is not left to find a premium buyer on their own.

The rates currently published by the Department of Agriculture are:

When the scheme was announced in the 2024-25 budget, the rates quoted were Rs 40 per kg for wheat and Rs 30 per kg for maize, with the Chief Minister stating that the MSP offered was the highest in the country. The departmental page now shows higher figures, so the rates have been revised upward since the announcement. Confirm the rate applying to the current procurement season with your block agriculture office before you plan a sale. The rate schedule is notified each year and should not be assumed from an older news report.

The purchase limit is a maximum of 20 quintals per family of naturally grown grain. Anything above that is sold in the open market as ordinary produce.

Who is eligible for Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana?

You can join if:

• You are a farmer or horticulturist in Himachal Pradesh with cultivable land, whether owned or in your cultivation.
• You are willing to farm without chemical fertiliser and chemical pesticide on the registered area, using dung- and urine-based and plant-based inputs.
• You register through your block's ATMA project and complete the department's self-certification for the area under natural farming.
• You are a rural young person setting up a natural farming enterprise — the "start-up" limb of the scheme is aimed at exactly this group.

You cannot claim the benefit if:

• You farm outside Himachal Pradesh. This is a state scheme funded from the state budget.
• Your produce was grown with chemical inputs. Grain that fails the certification is not eligible for the natural farming MSP, and self-certification is the check the department relies on.
• You have no certified area registered. Without registration on the state's certification system there is nothing linking your grain to the scheme.
• You want to sell more than 20 quintals in a year at the state MSP. The excess is not eligible for purchase under this scheme.

There is no published caste, income or landholding-size restriction on natural farming registration in Himachal Pradesh. The gate is agronomic, not economic, you qualify by farming without chemicals and getting that verified.

How to apply for Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana

1. Visit your block ATMA office and speak to the Block Technical Manager or Assistant Technical Manager, who run the natural farming programme at block level, or approach your Agriculture Extension Officer.
2. Register as a natural farming farmer, giving your land details, the area you are converting, your Aadhaar number and your bank account, and collect the free training literature supplied by the State Project Implementation Unit.
3. Attend the department's natural farming training programme for your panchayat. The first phase specifically targets ten farmers per panchayat, so ask when your panchayat's batch is scheduled.
4. Complete self-certification on spnfhp.in, the Self Assessed Certification System launched by the state in October 2022. Certification is free and complies with Participatory Guarantee System standards.
5. Apply for the input subsidies through the same block office; drums for preparing inputs, the cow-urine collection pit, and the Indian-breed cow subsidy.
6. When the procurement window is announced for wheat, maize, barley or turmeric, present your certification and sell up to 20 quintals at the notified state MSP.

How to reach the natural farming programme office

1. Call the Department of Agriculture toll-free number 1800-180-1551, or the Directorate at 0177-2830162 / 0177-2830618.
2. Write to krishibhawan-hp@gov.in with your district, block and land details.
3. Use the Apply for Schemes link on agriculture.hp.gov.in, which carries the department's online scheme applications, and the Him-e-Kisan portal for farmer registration.

What other support comes with natural farming in Himachal Pradesh?

The Department of Agriculture publishes a specific subsidy list for farmers converting to natural farming, and these apply alongside the start-up yojana's procurement guarantee:

• Rs 750 per drum, up to three drums, a maximum of Rs 2,250 per family, for the containers used to prepare natural farming inputs such as jeevamrit and ghanjeevamrit.
• Up to Rs 8,000 per farmer for paving the cow shed floor and building a pit to collect cow urine, which is the key input in this system.
• A 50 per cent subsidy up to Rs 25,000 for buying an Indian-breed cow, with an additional Rs 5,000 towards transporting the animal.
• Free literature and training material, prepared by the state agricultural universities and distributed by the State Project Implementation Unit.
• Awareness programmes for farmers and for agriculture, horticulture and livestock extension officers.

The department also reports that 10 markets have been designated for selling natural farming produce and that basic infrastructure is being built at them.

How is the scheme run and monitored?

Rajiv Gandhi Prakritik Kheti Start-up Yojana is layered on the natural farming administrative structure already in place. At the state level a High-Level Committee chaired by the Chief Minister guides the programme, and a Special Task Force chaired by the Chief Secretary handles implementation and monitoring. A State Project Implementation Unit headed by a State Project Director executes the programme across the state through the Department of Agriculture. At district level, the work runs as an ATMA project, with three district officers plus Block Technical Managers and Assistant Technical Managers doing the field work.

That structure matters for an applicant because it tells you where to go. The panchayat-level enrolment, the training batch, the certification help and the subsidy applications all sit with the Block Technical Manager, not with the Directorate in Shimla.

On progress, the Department of Agriculture reports that natural farming has reached 99.3 per cent of panchayats in Himachal Pradesh and is practised on 38,437 hectares, with about 2,20,000 farmer and horticulturist families having adopted the method fully or partially against an eventual goal of 9.61 lakh families. Spending on the wider natural farming programme was Rs 14.85 crore in 2024-25, with Rs 7.28 crore allocated for 2025-26.

Why do farmers miss out on the natural farming MSP?

• No certification. Selling grain without a valid self-certification entry is the most common reason a farmer gets the open-market rate instead of the state MSP.
• Area not registered. Certification is tied to a specific registered area; grain from an unregistered plot does not qualify.
• Chemical use on the registered plot. Any chemical fertiliser or pesticide on the certified area breaks the certification for that produce.
• Missing the procurement window. Purchase happens in notified seasonal windows, not year-round.
• Crossing the 20-quintal family cap, after which the remaining grain is sold as ordinary produce.
• Bank account not linked, which delays the payment even after the grain is accepted.

A note on what is not published. The Department of Agriculture's website does not carry a separate scheme page for the start-up component with a formal guideline document, an application form or a stated last date. The verified figures above come from the state budget announcement and from the department's natural farming page. Before acting on any rate or limit, confirm it with your block agriculture office, because the procurement rates for natural-farming produce have already been revised once since the scheme was announced.