Promotion of Niche Crops in UT of J&K (HADP Project 2)

What is HADP Project 2 on niche crops?

Promotion of Niche Crops in UT of J&K is the second of the 29 projects cleared by the Apex Committee 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.

Jammu and Kashmir grows a set of crops that almost no other Indian state can grow commercially, saffron in the Pampore karewas, lavender and other aromatics in the intermediate belt, walnut and almond in the temperate zone, rajmash in Bhaderwah, and a range of local pulses and spices. These are the "niche crops" the project targets. HADP Project 2 treats them as an export and premium-pricing opportunity rather than as subsistence crops, and funds the two things that actually limit them: the shortage of quality planting material, and the small area under commercial cultivation.

The five components, as set out in the HADP implementation guidelines

• Production of quality planting material, governed by SMSP (Sub Mission on Seed and Planting Material) and PMKSY guidelines.
• Diversification of niche crops in potential areas: governed by MIDH (Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture) guidelines.
• Value addition and marketing: also governed by MIDH guidelines.
• Human resource development, governed by ATMA guidelines.
• Research and development — governed by RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana) guidelines.

Because the project runs on the norms of these parent missions rather than on a separate rate card, the exact rupee assistance for a given crop is fixed in the year's action plan and shown against the activity when the window opens on the Kisan Sathi portal.

Who is eligible for HADP Project 2?

You can seek assistance if:

• You are a resident cultivator of Jammu and Kashmir with land in a district mapped as a potential zone for the niche crop concerned.
• You hold the land on ownership or on a registered lease, evidenced by a fard or girdawari extract.
• You are applying for area expansion of a niche crop on your own holding, or
• You run or intend to run a nursery producing quality planting material of a niche crop, registered with the Department of Agriculture or Horticulture.
• You are an FPO, SHG, Joint Liability Group or cooperative. Across HADP, these groups are given preference in beneficiary selection.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You have already taken the same activity benefit under another scheme or programme. HADP prohibits duplication of activities in plain terms.
• You are not resident in Jammu and Kashmir. HADP is a union territory CAPEX programme.
• Your land falls outside the cluster or potential zone mapped for that crop by the divisional committee.
• You want a credit-linked case handled offline, the HADP overview states that no offline credit-linked case shall be accepted.

The research and development component and the market-development work under this project are institutional. Individual farmers cannot apply for a personal cash benefit against those heads; they are executed by the department, SKUAST-Kashmir and SKUAST-Jammu.

What documents are required?

How to apply for HADP Project 2

1. Go to hadp.jk.gov.in, the Kisan Sathi portal, and click Register to create an account with your mobile number and Aadhaar details.
2. Log in and open Project 2 to Promotion of Niche Crops in UT of J&K.
3. Choose the correct form: Application form for Production of Planting Material of Niche Crops if you run a nursery, or Application form for Area Expansion of Niche Crops if you are a cultivator.
4. Enter the crop, the variety, the area in hectares or kanals, and the district and block where the land lies.
5. Upload your Aadhaar, land record and bank passbook, plus the nursery registration or DPR where these apply.
6. Submit and note the application reference number.
7. Wait for the district-level committee's field verification. Assistance is released back-ended through DBT once the committee confirms the planting or the nursery infrastructure on the ground.

How to apply with offline help

1. Visit a Kisan Khidmat Ghar (KKG) in your panchayat. More than 2,000 of these IT-enabled single-window centres operate across Jammu and Kashmir.
2. Ask the operator to register you on Kisan Sathi and file the niche crop form.
3. If you are unsure which crop your area is mapped for, ask the Zonal Agriculture Officer or the Chief Agriculture Officer of your district before filing, because applications outside the mapped cluster are commonly rejected.

How much assistance does HADP Project 2 give?

HADP Project 2 does not publish one flat figure. Assistance is set by the parent mission whose norms apply to the activity:

• Planting material under SMSP and PMKSY norms.
• Area expansion, value addition and marketing under MIDH norms, which typically fix a cost norm per hectare or per unit and a percentage share.
• Training under ATMA norms and research under RKVY norms.

Two HADP-wide rules apply regardless of the activity. Subsidy is back-ended only: released after the department verifies substantial progress. And where the beneficiary takes bank credit, the subsidy is credited to the loan account with a three-year lock-in, with a repayment period of up to eight years, or five years on loans under Rs 2 lakh.

How do I check my application status?

1. Log in to hadp.jk.gov.in using your registered mobile number.
2. Open the applicant dashboard to see the stage of each application; submitted, under verification, sponsored to bank, sanctioned or released.
3. If a sanctioned amount has not reached you, confirm that your bank account is active and Aadhaar-seeded, since DBT fails on dormant accounts.

Why niche crop applications get rejected

• Duplication. The same activity has already been availed under MIDH, RKVY or another state scheme.
• Land outside the mapped cluster for that crop in your division.
• Unregistered nursery filing a planting-material application.
• Name or khasra mismatch between the Aadhaar record and the fard.
• Planting not carried out or not maintained by the time the district committee inspects, so the back-ended subsidy cannot be released.
• Bank refusal on the credit component of a larger nursery proposal.

Where do I raise a complaint?

• Lodge a complaint through the Grievance link on hadp.jk.gov.in and follow it with Grievance Status.
• Contact the Agriculture Production Department on 0191-2505201 (Jammu) or at devagri-jk@jk.gov.in.
• Escalate through the Chief Agriculture Officer of your district or the Mission Directorate, HADP.

Registration on Kisan Sathi is free. No consultant is authorised to charge you a fee for getting a HADP niche crop application sanctioned.