Incentive Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers to Increase the Area, Production and Productivity of Sugarcane Farming

What is the sugarcane incentive for Scheduled Caste farmers in Gujarat?

Incentive Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers to Increase the Area, Production and Productivity of Sugarcane Farming is a 100% state-funded scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, implemented through the Directorate of Agriculture and the iKhedut portal.

According to the department, the scheme exists because the economic condition and purchasing power of Scheduled Caste farmers for agricultural inputs, farm mechanisation and current technology is low. Cash assistance is used to bridge that gap so that SC farmers can buy high-quality seed, other inputs, the latest package of practices and agricultural mechanisation for their sugarcane crop.

The scheme has two clearly separated components:

• Assistance for sugarcane sowing, Rs 10,000 per hectare.
• 10% incentive assistance for outstanding production, given as 10% of the sale price per tonne where the beneficiary's production exceeds 70 metric tonnes per hectare.

The department indicates that roughly 500 hectares of sugarcane cultivation by Scheduled Caste farmers may be covered under the scheme, based on their average cultivated area. A parallel scheme on the same design serves Scheduled Tribe sugarcane farmers.

Who is eligible for the sugarcane assistance?

You can claim if:

• You belong to a Scheduled Caste and hold a valid caste certificate issued in Gujarat.
• You are a householder farmer with land, evidenced by the 8-A record.
• You have actually planted a sugarcane crop in the area declared in the application.
• You register the plantation with a district sugar co-operative society, whose name you state in the application.
• For the extra 10% component, you have already taken the sowing assistance and achieved production of 70 MT per hectare or more using quality seed, improved inputs, advanced methods and mechanisation.

You are not eligible if:

• You do not belong to a Scheduled Caste. Scheduled Tribe farmers have a separate parallel scheme, and general-category farmers cannot apply here.
• You are landless, a labourer or a tenant without a landholding record in your name, since the beneficiary must be a householder landholder.
• You have not planted sugarcane in the season for which you apply. Assistance is not paid on an intention to plant.
• Your declared area cannot be verified by the sugar co-operative society, or the field verification by district extension staff contradicts what you declared.
• The same survey number has already been claimed by a joint owner and no undertaking from the co-owners is on file.

How much is paid, and how is it calculated?

The base payment is Rs 10,000 per hectare of sugarcane sown. A farmer with 1.5 hectares of sugarcane therefore receives Rs 15,000, subject to the department's sanction and the area limits of the scheme in that year.

The second component rewards yield rather than area. Where a farmer who has taken the sowing assistance produces more than 70 metric tonnes per hectare, the scheme pays a further 10% calculated on the sale price per tonne. Because the payment is pegged to the actual sale price realised at the sugar co-operative society, the value of this component moves with the season's rates rather than being a fixed rupee figure.

Both components are governed by the terms of the operative government resolution, and the department records the minimum time limit for reclaiming the benefit as every year.

What documents are required?

• Scheduled Caste category certificate.
• Copy of the 8-A land record.
• Bank passbook copy and a cancelled cheque.
• Aadhaar card copy.
• Undertaking form where the land is jointly owned.
• Disability certificate, where claimed under that head.

Keep the originals with you at the time of submission; the office scrutinising the file may ask to see them against the self-attested copies.

How to apply for the sugarcane incentive

1. Open the iKhedut portal. Go to ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in during the period the component is open, select the agriculture schemes section and choose this sugarcane component for Scheduled Caste farmers.
2. Fill the prescribed application form. The department's format is Appendix-3, Part-1. Enter your land details, the area under sugarcane, and: compulsorily — the name of the district sugar co-operative society with which your sugarcane crop is or will be registered. An application without this entry cannot be processed.
3. Confirm the application and take a printout. Confirm the online submission, print the application, and sign it or affix a thumb impression.
4. Submit the printout with documents at the concerned office. Attach the caste certificate, 8-A, bank passbook and cancelled cheque, Aadhaar copy and any joint ownership undertaking, and hand the set in at the agriculture office named on the portal. Ask for an acknowledgement.
5. Wait for scrutiny and sanction. The responsible officer scrutinises the application under Appendix-3, Part-2, marks each file eligible or ineligible, and updates the status on the iKhedut portal. The competent authority then approves or rejects under Appendix-3, Part-3, and applicants are informed in writing and, where possible, by SMS or email.
6. Complete registration with the sugar co-operative society. Your approved application is forwarded to the society you named, which registers your sugarcane plantation and confirms that the crop has actually been planted in the declared area before returning the proposal with supporting documents.
7. Receive payment in your bank account. After random verification by district extension staff, the concerned officer prepares and signs the payment order and sends it to the nodal agency, which credits the assistance online to the applicant's bank account.

How to check your application status

Track the application on the iKhedut portal itself. The department updates the eligible or ineligible status of each application on iKhedut after scrutiny, so the portal: not the office counter: is the fastest place to see where your file stands. Applicants can view, print and re-upload application details through the portal's applicant corner. Keep your application number from the confirmation screen; without it, retrieving a file is slow.

Sanction communications are also sent in writing to your address, and by SMS or email where the department has those details, which is a good reason to enter a working mobile number on the form.

Why applications are rejected, and how to avoid it

• Caste certificate missing or issued outside Gujarat. The scheme is limited to Scheduled Caste farmers, and this is checked first.
• No sugar co-operative society named. The verification chain cannot start, and the file stalls.
• Declared area does not match the 8-A or the society's registration. Declare the actual planted area, not the whole holding.
• Joint holding without a co-owner undertaking, which raises the risk of two claims on one survey number.
• Bank account details that do not match the applicant, or an account that cannot receive the online credit.
• Applying after the iKhedut window closed for the season, or after the scheme's area target for the year is exhausted.

Key facts to remember

• Rs 10,000 per hectare for sugarcane sowing.
• 10% of sale price per tonne extra for production above 70 MT per hectare.
• About 500 hectares of coverage under the scheme.
• 100% state-funded, with a parallel scheme for Scheduled Tribe farmers.
• Benefit can be reclaimed every year, subject to the scheme being open.

Help and grievance redressal

Raise questions first with the office at which you submitted the printed application, quoting the iKhedut application number. Beyond that, the scheme sits with the Directorate of Agriculture under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, whose scheme pages are published at agri.gujarat.gov.in. If your file is stuck at verification, the district sugar co-operative society named in your application is usually where it is sitting. This guide does not list a helpline number because Gujarat has not published a dedicated line for this component. No fee is payable to any agent for applying on iKhedut.