J&K Soil and Land Resource Information System (HADP Project 19)

What is the J&K Soil and Land Resource Information System?

The J&K Soil and Land Resource Information System is Project 19 of the all-round Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), the 29-project package of the Agriculture Production Department, Government of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of the few HADP projects that is simultaneously a service delivery scheme for farmers and a self-employment scheme for rural youth.

The problem it addresses is turnaround time. Soil samples collected in a village have historically travelled to a district or divisional laboratory, been queued behind hundreds of others, and come back as a Soil Health Card weeks after the sowing decision was already made. Project 19 pushes the testing capacity down to the village, funds a young local entrepreneur to run it, and feeds every result back into a single soil and land resource database through the Soil Health Card portal.

According to the HADP implementation guidelines, the stated objectives are employment generation for rural youth, improved timeliness in analysis of soil samples, a single-window approach from collection to issue of the Soil Health Card so that delays are minimised, online delivery of soil health cards through the Soil Health Card portal, and soil testing facilities for farmers at their doorstep.

Who runs and approves the scheme?

A District Level Executive Committee (DLEC) carries the scheme forward in each district and is responsible for project evaluation, implementation and monitoring. Its composition is fixed in the guidelines:

The Deputy Director or District Agriculture Officer, as Member Secretary, is the officer to whom your application physically goes.

Who is eligible for HADP Project 19?

For a Village Level Soil Testing Project (VLSTP), you can apply if:

• You are a youth in the 18 to 27 year age group, with preference for youth from Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) villages.
• You have passed matriculation in second division with science, and have a working knowledge of computers.
• You own the building in which the village-level lab will be set up, or hold a rental building with a lease agreement for at least four years.
• You are willing to submit a bond to run the lab for at least 2 cycles, that is at least four years.
• You can invest the 25 per cent of project cost that the subsidy does not cover.

For a new static soil testing laboratory, you can apply if:

• You are an individual, agripreneur or private-sector entity setting up a new static laboratory at district level under the National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture route that Project 19 adopts.

You cannot apply if:

• You are older than 27 or younger than 18 and are seeking the village-level lab. The age band is a hard criterion.
• You have not cleared matriculation with science in second division.
• You have neither your own building nor a four-year lease for the premises.
• You are unwilling to sign the four-year operating bond.
• You want the government to fund the whole project. The village-level subsidy is capped at 75 per cent and the balance 25 per cent must be invested by the entrepreneur; for a static laboratory the subsidy is 60 per cent.

How much money does HADP Project 19 give?

The 75 per cent assistance for a village-level lab is shared between the Government of India and the State Government on a 60:40 basis, and on a 90:10 basis for North Eastern and hilly states. The category into which Jammu and Kashmir falls. For a static laboratory, the 60 per cent subsidy is provided for purchase of machinery and equipment, chemicals and glassware, miscellaneous laboratory articles and contingencies.

What documents are required?

How to apply for HADP Project 19

1. Register on the HADP Kisan Sathi portal at hadp.jk.gov.in using your Aadhaar number and mobile number, and open the Project 19 scheme page to see the components open in your district.
2. Prepare the premises documentation. Either the ownership record of your own building, or a registered lease agreement running at least four years from the date of application.
3. Submit the application to the office of the Deputy Director or District Agriculture Officer of your district, attaching the qualification certificate, PAN card and Aadhaar card — the three documents named explicitly in the guidelines; along with the premises proof and bank passbook.
4. Sign and file the bond undertaking to run the laboratory for at least two cycles, that is a minimum of four years.
5. Appear before the District Level Executive Committee when it evaluates applications. The DLEC is chaired by the Deputy Commissioner and includes the Soil Testing Officer, who assesses technical readiness.
6. Set up the lab after sanction, procure the equipment and consumables, and call for inspection. The one-time 75 per cent subsidy is released after verification; you fund the remaining 25 per cent yourself.
7. Start reporting. Once operational, print and distribute Soil Health Cards to farmers and send the tested results with sample and farmer details in an Excel sheet to the Soil Testing Officer of the area.

How to check your status

The district Agriculture Officer's office holds the register of applications and the DLEC minutes; that is the first place to ask. Applications routed through the HADP portal can be tracked with the registration number generated on submission. For the Soil Health Card side of the work, farmers and entrepreneurs can look up issued cards on the national Soil Health Card portal at soilhealth.dac.gov.in.

Why applications get rejected, and what to do

• Age outside 18 to 27. No relaxation is provided in the guidelines for the village-level lab.
• Qualification short of matric second division with science. This is checked against the certificate, not a self-declaration.
• Lease shorter than four years, or an unregistered lease, which fails the premises test.
• No bond filed, which stalls the file even after technical clearance.
• Applicant unable to bring the 25 per cent own contribution, which the DLEC assesses before sanction.
• District target already exhausted for the financial year; reapply at the start of the next year's cycle.

Help and grievance redressal

• Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare Department, Jammu: 0191-2505201, email devagri-jk@jk.gov.in
• Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare Department, Kashmir: 0194-2310265
• Deputy Director / District Agriculture Officer of your district, who is the Member Secretary of the DLEC and the first point of contact
• HADP portal: hadp.jk.gov.in, including its grievance section
• Soil Health Card portal: soilhealth.dac.gov.in

Applying under HADP Project 19 is free. No agent can obtain a sanction for you, and no officer will ask for the OTP sent to your registered mobile number.