Promotion of Commercial Floriculture in UT of J&K (HADP Project 14)

What is HADP Project 14 on commercial floriculture?

Promotion of Commercial Floriculture in UT of J&K, framed in the guidelines as a Cluster Based Floriculture Entrepreneurship scheme for employment generation, 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. Delivery runs through the Department of Floriculture with the Directorate of Agriculture.

Floriculture in Jammu and Kashmir has two very different opportunities. One is cut and loose flowers: marigold, gladiolus, tulip, lilium, for the wedding and temple markets of north India, where the valley's cool summer gives quality the plains cannot match in season. The other is lavender and other aromatics, which have made the union territory nationally visible through the Aroma Mission and which need distillation, not a mandi, to realise value.

Project 14 is deliberately cluster based. A Divisional Level Committee constituted by the Director Agriculture maps two to three clusters per division for protected cultivation, four to five clusters per division for lavender, seven to eight clusters in Jammu and two to three in Kashmir for marigold, and two to three clusters per division for gladiolus. Committees also designate four to six quality planting material (QPM) suppliers, and growers may buy from any of them.

What are the components and shares?

Rooted lavender plants can be produced at the KVKs of SKUAST-Jammu and SKUAST-Kashmir, with funds earmarked in the DPR action plan.

Under cold chain, 50 per cent of earmarked funds in Kashmir division and 25 per cent in Jammu division go to restoring existing cold storage and refrigerated transport; the balance to 50 per cent in Kashmir and 75 per cent in Jammu, goes to acquiring and installing new units.

Who is eligible for HADP Project 14?

You can seek assistance if:

• You are registered with the Department of Floriculture Jammu or Kashmir. This is the gateway condition for almost every component.
• You hold a minimum of 0.1 hectare for nursery components, or can commit a minimum of 0.2 hectare for area expansion in aromatics, loose flowers, bulbous flowers or annual flower seed.
• Your land lies in a designated cluster mapped by the Divisional Level Committee for that crop.
• You hold intact tubular frame structures erected earlier with government subsidy, if you are claiming post-Covid revival.
• You can meet the farmer share to 20 per cent on greenhouses, polythene and private distillation units, 50 per cent on a germinator.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not registered with the Department of Floriculture.
• Your holding is below 0.1 hectare, or below the 0.2 hectare minimum for area expansion.
• Your land falls outside the designated cluster for that crop.
• You want a vermicompost unit or post-harvest pack house without a shade house — only growers receiving a shade house qualify for those.
• You are seeking tissue culture unit strengthening, the model floriculture farm at SKUAST-Kashmir, ornamental nursery technology transfer, or the mission management budget. These are institutional components funded at 100 per cent and are not open to individual applications.
• You have already availed the same activity under MIDH or another scheme; HADP bars duplication.

How to apply for HADP Project 14

1. Register as a grower with the Department of Floriculture for your division if you are not already on its rolls.
2. Create an account on the Kisan Sathi portal at hadp.jk.gov.in using your mobile number and Aadhaar details.
3. Log in and open Project 14 to Promotion of Commercial Floriculture in UT of J&K, then pick the activity: new nursery unit, strengthening of existing nurseries, post-Covid revival, protected cultivation, aromatic plants, loose flowers, bulbous flowers, or annual flower seed production.
4. Enter your registration number with the Department of Floriculture, your holding, the cluster you fall in, and the area or structure size proposed.
5. Upload your floriculture registration, Aadhaar, land record and bank passbook, plus proof of existing structures for a revival claim.
6. Submit and note the application reference number.
7. Buy planting material only from a designated QPM supplier, since the committee approves the supplier list and payments are checked against it.
8. Complete the planting or installation, then let the District Level Monitoring Committee constituted by the Chief Agriculture Officer, or the Divisional Committee for greenhouses, physically inspect it. Subsidy is released in DBT mode after a satisfactory report.

How is the work verified?

Verification is explicit in this project and differs by component:

• Polycarbonate greenhouses and germinators. A Divisional Level Monitoring Committee constituted by the Director Agriculture or Director Floriculture physically checks the installation on the beneficiary's field.
• Small nurseries, revival, protected cultivation, aromatics, loose flowers, bulbous flowers and flower seed, a District Level Monitoring Committee constituted by the Chief Agriculture Officer physically checks the infrastructure or planting.
• Subsidy is released in DBT mode only after the committee's satisfactory report. There is no advance payment.

How do I check my application status?

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

Why floriculture applications get rejected

• Not registered with the Department of Floriculture.
• Holding below 0.1 hectare, or an expansion proposal below 0.2 hectare.
• Land outside the designated cluster mapped by the Divisional Committee.
• Planting material bought from a supplier not on the designated QPM list.
• Greenhouse area above 148 square metres claimed under the nursery strengthening component, or protected area above the 600 square metre ceiling without a Divisional Committee recommendation.
• Structure not found on inspection, or found not installed to specification, which blocks the DBT release.
• Vermicompost or pack house claimed without a shade house.

Where do I raise a complaint?

• Use the Grievance link on hadp.jk.gov.in and follow 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 Director Floriculture of your division, or the Mission Directorate, HADP.

Registration with the Department of Floriculture and application on Kisan Sathi are both free. No nursery or supplier is entitled to charge a grower for "arranging" a HADP floriculture sanction.