Integrated Horticulture Development Program for Tribal Area Farmers (TASP) HRT-3

What is HRT-3?

HRT-3 is the Gujarat government's Scheme for Horticulture Development Programme in Tribal Area (TASP), run by the Directorate of Horticulture under the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. It is the tribal sub-plan version of the state's integrated horticulture development programme: the same menu of horticulture subsidies, ring-fenced for Scheduled Tribe farmers so that tribal-area allocations are not spent elsewhere.

The scale is set by the state budget. The Gujarat outcome budget for 2026-27 provides Rs 82.00 crore against scheme code HRT-3, alongside Rs 475.00 crore for the general programme HRT-2 and Rs 12.00 crore for the Scheduled Caste programme HRT-4. Separate Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture lines exist for TSP farmers (HRT-14, Rs 19.50 crore in 2026-27) and for general and SCSP farmers, which is why a tribal farmer in Gujarat can sometimes be assisted from more than one line for different components.

The Tribal Area Sub-Plan itself dates to 1974, when the country adopted the principle of allocating funds in proportion to the Scheduled Tribe population. According to the Gujarat Tribal Development Department, the state earmarks budget in proportion to its 14.8 per cent Scheduled Tribe population, and TASP funds are non-divertible.

Who is eligible for HRT-3 assistance?

You can be assisted if:

• You are a Scheduled Tribe farmer holding a caste certificate issued by the competent authority in Gujarat.
• You cultivate land recorded in your name in the 7/12 and 8-A village forms, in a Tribal Area Sub-Plan area. Dispersed tribal households living outside the notified tribal blocks are also covered under the TASP route.
• The component you want is open on iKhedut in the current window and has a physical target left in your district.
• You meet the component's own conditions: minimum and maximum area, spacing, variety, or the requirement to install micro-irrigation through a GGRC-empanelled agency where that applies.

You are not eligible under HRT-3 if:

• You are not a Scheduled Tribe farmer. Non-tribal farmers apply under HRT-2, and Scheduled Caste farmers under HRT-4. Applying in the wrong line wastes a whole cycle.
• Your name does not appear on the land record for the plot claimed.
• You executed the work before pre-approval was issued.
• You have already drawn the same component within its cooling-off period or lifetime frequency limit.
• The land lies outside Gujarat.

What can HRT-3 pay for?

HRT-3 delivers the same component menu as the general horticulture programme, to tribal-area farmers. Typical components appearing in recent iKhedut cycles and in the state's physical targets include:

• Area expansion of fruit crops; mango, sapota, guava, custard apple, cashew, dragon fruit and other orchard crops, assisted per hectare.
• Area expansion of vegetable crops, including vine vegetables grown on mandaps.
• Farm nurseries and plant production. The published pattern for establishment of a fruit nursery at the farm is 75 per cent of cost, subject to a maximum of Rs 22.50 lakh per hectare, which is the largest single component a tribal applicant is likely to see.
• Protected cultivation; shade net houses, poly houses and crop cover.
• Mulching, assisted per hectare.
• Horticulture mechanisation, tools, power operated equipment and plant protection machinery.
• Post-harvest management, packing, grading and small storage components.
• Bee keeping, mushroom production, spices and medicinal or aromatic crops.

Assistance is calculated on a notified unit cost for each component, at the percentage published against it, with a per-hectare or per-unit ceiling. Tribal applicants generally draw the higher slab — 75 per cent in the components where a general farmer gets 50 per cent, but the exact figure changes each financial year and is displayed inside the live application form on iKhedut. Read that figure before you spend.

How to apply for HRT-3 on iKhedut

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in, go to Schemes, and select Horticulture (bagayati) schemes to see which components are accepting applications now.
2. Choose your component and click Apply. Choose the registered-farmer route if you have applied before; otherwise apply as an unregistered farmer.
3. Fill in Aadhaar number, mobile number, bank details, village, survey number and area, and select Scheduled Tribe as your category so the application is booked against the TASP line.
4. Save the application and then confirm it. An unconfirmed application is not submitted and cannot be edited afterwards.
5. Print the confirmed application, sign it, and attach the ST caste certificate, 7/12 and 8-A extracts, Aadhaar copy and bank passbook copy.
6. Deliver the signed printout with documents to the taluka or district horticulture office shown on your acknowledgement, within the days stated.
7. Wait for the pre-approval (purva manjuri) order before buying anything or starting work.
8. Complete the work, keep all bills, and request physical verification. Subsidy is credited by DBT after verification.

How to apply without a computer

1. Go to your village panchayat's Gram Computer Entrepreneur (VCE) or a nearby common service point and ask for an iKhedut horticulture application.
2. Carry your ST caste certificate, 7/12 and 8-A extracts, Aadhaar card and bank passbook so every detail is typed exactly as it appears on record.
3. Collect the printed confirmed application, sign it, and submit it at the taluka horticulture office; keep the acknowledgement.

Where applications exceed the district target, selection is made against the target, in many components by a draw. Applying early does not guarantee approval, but an incomplete or unconfirmed application guarantees rejection.

How do I check my HRT-3 application status?

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and choose Check application status.
2. Enter the application number from your acknowledgement, plus the other detail the page asks for.
3. Read the stage; submitted, verified, pre-approved, work completed, or payment released.

If nothing moves for weeks after the window closes, visit the taluka horticulture office with the printed application and confirm the physical copy was received.

Why HRT-3 applications get rejected

• Caste certificate missing or in another name, which knocks the case out of the TASP line entirely.
• Signed printout never submitted to the horticulture office.
• Work executed before pre-approval.
• Land record mismatch between the 7/12 extract and the application.
• District target exhausted for that component in that year, a rejection that says nothing about your eligibility, and is worth re-applying in the next window.
• Bills not produced at claim stage, or bills dated before the pre-approval order.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit bounces.

How HRT-3 fits with Gujarat's other horticulture lines

Gujarat splits its horticulture spending across parallel scheme codes so that category allocations stay protected, and a tribal farmer can legitimately be assisted from more than one of them for different components in the same year. HRT-2 is the general Integrated Development Programme for Horticulture in the State, funded at Rs 475.00 crore in 2026-27. HRT-4 carries the Scheduled Caste sub-plan at Rs 12.00 crore. HRT-3, at Rs 82.00 crore, is the tribal-area line described on this page. Alongside them, the centrally sponsored Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) runs its own general, SCSP and TSP lines: HRT-9, HRT-13 and HRT-14 respectively, with HRT-14 provided Rs 19.50 crore for TSP farmers in 2026-27. Physical targets under these MIDH lines for tribal farmers include area expansion of fruit crops, area expansion of vegetable crops, shade net houses and mulching, in hectares and unit numbers fixed district by district. As an applicant you do not choose the scheme code; you choose the component on iKhedut and declare your category, and the department books the case against the correct line.

Where to get help

• iKhedut portal: ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in: component list, application, and status check.
• Taluka or district horticulture officer, pre-approval, inspection and payment.
• Directorate of Horticulture, Gujarat: doh.gujarat.gov.in.
• Tribal Development Department, Gujarat: tribal.gujarat.gov.in, for TASP questions and for tribal-specific schemes such as wadi and fruit plant distribution that run in parallel.
• Kisan Call Centre: 1800-180-1551.

HRT-3 assistance is free to apply for and is paid only into the beneficiary's own bank account. Nobody can charge a commission to get a horticulture subsidy sanctioned.