Development of Rain-fed Areas of J&K (HADP Project 15)

What is HADP Project 15 on rainfed areas?

Development of Rain-fed Areas of J&K is one of the 29 projects cleared under the all-round Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the Rs 5,013 crore five-year package of the Agriculture Production Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir.

Most of Jammu and Kashmir's cultivated area outside the canal-fed valley floor and the Jammu plains is rainfed. In the Kandi belt, in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Doda and the higher reaches of Kupwara and Kathua, the crop depends on what falls from the sky and on what a farmer can hold back from it. The project's methodology is framed around what the guidelines call the 3Es: Ecology, Economics and Equity, and its logic is to collectivise small producers so that technology, inputs and markets can reach them at scale.

Scale of the project, per the implementation guidelines

• 75,000 farmers targeted, across 100 blocks in 20 districts.
• 500 clusters of villages, each with 5 villages and 30 farmers.
• Village-level producer groups (PGs) of about 5 to 10 farmers each, in a flexible format adapted to local conditions.
• At least 500 producers mobilised per district, in dense clusters wherever possible, to allow large-scale demonstration and economies of scale.
• PGs federated into an FPO or producer company, with roughly 10,000 to 15,000 farmers in each such institution and members holding equity.
• Local Resource Persons (LRPs), both men and women, groomed as local service providers, with training, exposure and constant handholding as the key strategy.
• Farm Schools on the ATMA pattern as the learning platform.
• By the end of the second year, mature FPOs assisted with networking and DPR preparation to seek Venture Capital Assistance from SFAC.

The four main components are a survey to identify potential areas in the subtropical, intermediate and temperate zones; capacity building and nurturing of farmers' groups; technological interventions to improve rainfed crop production, aimed at diversification and supply chain development; and formation of FPOs, producer companies or cooperatives for market linkage and extension services.

What assistance is available?

The operational guidelines list the incentives and subsidies available under this project:

• Production of quality seed and quality planting material.
• Technological demonstrations in agriculture, horticulture and livestock, using critical inputs based on the production constraints at each pilot site.
• Promotion of Integrated Farming Systems and Integrated Livelihood Systems.
• Crop diversification through pulses and oilseeds.
• In-situ water conservation using mulches and location-specific agronomic practices.
• Organic farming practices, with value addition and recycling of farm waste into enriched compost and manure.
• IPM and INM modules.
• Micro-irrigation.
• Creation of irrigation sources, bore wells, storage tanks, portable geo tanks, roof-top rainwater harvesting structures, poly and flexi water tanks, and gravity-feed drip irrigation systems.
• Mechanisation through Custom Hiring Centres.
• Storage infrastructure in rural areas.
• Compost and vermicompost units.
• Village Seed Banks.
• Goat, sheep and backyard poultry units.
• Maximising artificial insemination coverage through high-yielding germplasm.
• Prevention and control of major economically important livestock diseases.
• Formation and development of FPOs and FPCs, market linkages and value chain development.
• Post-harvest handling facilities.

Nine of these appear as separate application forms on the Kisan Sathi portal: water storage structures, roof-top rainwater harvesting, irrigation infrastructure, Custom Hiring Centres, grain storage structures, village seed banks, compost and vermicompost units, small agro-processing units, and goat, sheep and backyard poultry units.

Who is eligible for HADP Project 15?

You can seek assistance if:

• You are a farmer in a rainfed area of Jammu and Kashmir identified as a pilot project site by the project survey, in the subtropical, intermediate or temperate zone.
• You are a small producer — the methodology is explicitly about collectivising small producers rather than serving large holders.
• You are willing to join a producer group of 5 to 10 farmers and later to become an equity-holding member of the federated FPO.
• You will take part in the Farm School learning platform and work with the Local Resource Persons.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• Your land is outside the identified pilot project sites. The survey defines where the project operates, and applications from unmapped areas are not taken up.
• You have already availed the same activity under another scheme. HADP bars duplication of activities.
• You are seeking the survey, capacity building, consultancy or project management budgets as a personal benefit. These are institutional and are run by the implementing agency with SKUAST-Jammu, SKUAST-Kashmir, KVKs and the project management team.
• You want a credit-linked case handled offline; no offline credit-linked HADP case is accepted.

How to apply for HADP Project 15

1. Register on the Kisan Sathi portal at hadp.jk.gov.in with your mobile number and Aadhaar details.
2. Log in and open Project 15 to Development of Rain-fed Areas of J&K.
3. Choose your activity: Water Storage Structures (storage tanks, portable geo tanks, poly tanks, flexi water tanks), Roof-top Rain Water Harvesting Structures, Irrigation Infrastructures (bore well, micro-irrigation systems), Custom Hiring Centres, Grain Storage Structures, Village Seed Banks, Compost/Vermi-compost Units, Small Agro-processing Units, or Goat, Sheep and Backyard Poultry Units.
4. Enter your village, block, holding size and the capacity of the structure or unit proposed.
5. Upload Aadhaar, land record and bank passbook, adding a DPR from the portal's DPR Generator for a Custom Hiring Centre or an agro-processing unit.
6. Submit and note the application reference number.
7. If credit is needed, the head of department sponsors the case electronically to your bank branch, which may seek further documents under RBI norms.
8. Build the structure or set up the unit, then let the departmental committee verify it. Assistance is released back-ended through DBT, or into the loan account with a three-year lock-in.

How to apply through the group route

1. Join or form a producer group of 5 to 10 farmers in your village. The project reaches beneficiaries through these groups rather than one by one.
2. Ask your block agriculture office whether your cluster is among the 500 clusters covered, and who the Local Resource Person for your area is.
3. Attend the Farm School sessions run on the ATMA pattern. The technical package for rainfed farming is the part of this project that costs nothing and changes yields most.
4. Once the group is stable, work towards federating into the FPO for your area, which can later approach SFAC for Venture Capital Assistance.

How do I check my application status?

1. Log in at hadp.jk.gov.in with your registered mobile number.
2. The applicant dashboard shows each application's stage: submitted, under verification, sponsored to bank, sanctioned or released.
3. Where a sanction shows without credit, confirm your bank account is active and Aadhaar-seeded.

Why rainfed area applications get rejected

• Land outside a pilot project site identified by the survey.
• Duplication of a water structure or unit already availed under PMKSY, RKVY, MGNREGA convergence or another scheme.
• No feasible water source or catchment for the storage or harvesting structure proposed.
• Structure not built to the approved design, so the verifying committee cannot certify it.
• Weak business case for a Custom Hiring Centre, where the cluster's cropped area does not support the machinery mix.
• Bank refusal on the credit component of an agro-processing unit.

Where do I raise a complaint?

• Use the Grievance link on hadp.jk.gov.in and track it under Grievance Status.
• Contact the Agriculture Production Department at 0191-2505201 (Jammu) or devagri-jk@jk.gov.in.
• Escalate through the Chief Agriculture Officer of your district, the Block Development Officer, or the Mission Directorate, HADP.

Kisan Sathi registration is free, and the Farm Schools, trainings and Local Resource Person support under this project cost the farmer nothing.