Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana (Scheme for Assistance to APMCs to Provide Basic and Modern Facilities) (General)

What is Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana?

Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana is a state scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, that gives capital grants to Agricultural Produce Market Committees so they can provide basic and modern facilities at their market yards. The scheme is implemented by the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB), the apex agricultural marketing body for the state, which functions from Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar.

The name translates roughly as the farmer's wish-fulfilling tree, and the intent behind the scheme is straightforward. Gujarat's regulated market yards are where a very large share of the state's marketable surplus changes hands. Nearly 90 lakh farmers and farm workers are engaged in agricultural production in Gujarat, and roughly three quarters of the state's population is rural. Yet many market yards were built decades ago for far lower arrivals, with open auction grounds, no covered storage, unpaved parking and minimal sanitation. The result is physical loss of produce to rain and dust, long waits in the sun for farmers, and weak bargaining because ungraded produce sold from an open ground attracts a lower bid.

Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana addresses that gap by funding the market committee, not the farmer. The market committee builds, and the facility is then available to every farmer who brings produce to that yard.

What facilities does the scheme fund?

The works covered by Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana fall into two broad groups.

Basic facilities:

• Auction platforms and covered auction sheds, so produce is inspected and bid for under shade rather than in the open.
• Godowns and storage space within the yard, so unsold produce need not be carted back the same day.
• Parking areas for tractors, trolleys and trucks bringing produce in.
• Drinking water points, toilets and sanitation blocks for farmers and labour.
• Internal roads, drainage, boundary walls and yard lighting.
• Rest sheds or waiting areas for farmers who arrive the night before an auction.

Modern facilities:

• Electronic weighbridges and computerised weighment, which removes disputes about weight.
• Grading, sorting and cleaning equipment, which lets produce be sold by quality grade instead of as an undifferentiated lot.
• Cold storage and pre-cooling facilities for perishables.
• Market information display boards and computerisation of the auction and payment records.

Who is eligible, and who is not eligible?

Institutions that can apply:

• Agricultural Produce Market Committees constituted under the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, operating a regulated market yard in the general, that is non-tribal, areas of the state.
• The APMC must hold clear title to the market yard land on which the facility is proposed, be current on its statutory audit, and be able to fund its share of the project cost from cess reserves or borrowing.

Who is not eligible:

• Individual farmers cannot apply. Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana pays no cash benefit to any individual, and there is no personal claim to make. Farmers looking for individual assistance should use the iKhedut portal, which carries the state's farmer-level schemes.
• Traders, commission agents and licensed buyers operating in the yard cannot apply, even for facilities they would use.
• Private market operators and warehousing companies are outside the scheme, which is confined to statutory market committees.
• APMCs in designated tribal areas apply under the separately budgeted Tribal component rather than under this General component.
• APMCs under supersession, in audit arrears, or in default on an earlier grant are normally not considered until those issues are cleared.

What documents does an APMC need?

How to apply under Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana

1. Identify the gap at your yard and decide precisely what will be built, in what dimensions, and where in the yard it will stand.
2. Pass a board resolution in the APMC approving the proposed facility, the estimated cost and the APMC's own contribution, and authorising the secretary or another named officer to file the proposal.
3. Get a detailed project report and technical estimate prepared by a qualified engineer, with drawings, item-wise costing and a construction timeline.
4. Obtain the plan approval required from the local planning authority, and assemble the land documents, registration papers, audited accounts and bank details.
5. Submit the proposal to the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board at Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, and take an inward acknowledgement with the file number.
6. Respond to technical scrutiny. GSAMB engineers examine the design, the rates used and the necessity of each item, and often return the estimate for revision before it goes for administrative approval.
7. Wait for the sanction order, which fixes the grant amount for that project, and begin work only after it is issued.
8. Draw the grant in instalments against measurement books, contractor bills and stage completion certificates, and file the completion report with photographs when the facility is ready for use.

How to check the status of a proposal

There is no online tracker for Kishan Kalpvriksh Yojana. Follow up with the inward file number at the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board on 079-2325 4006 to 079-2325 4009. The two useful questions are whether the technical scrutiny is complete and whether the proposal has been placed against the current financial year's budget provision. Proposals that clear scrutiny late in the year are commonly carried forward to the next year's allocation rather than rejected.

Why proposals get rejected or delayed

• Estimates at non-standard rates, which are cut down on scrutiny and reduce the sanctioned grant.
• Items outside the scheme's scope, such as administrative office buildings or staff quarters presented as farmer facilities.
• Disputed or unclear title to the piece of market yard land in question.
• Work started before sanction, which forfeits grant on the completed portion.
• Audit arrears or an open audit paragraph against the APMC.
• No credible source shown for the APMC's own share of the project cost.
• Wrong component, where a tribal-area APMC files under the General component or the reverse.

Key dates and grievance route

The scheme operates on the Gujarat financial year, 1 April to 31 March, and sanctions are made against the annual budget provision. No fixed last date for filing has been announced. An APMC planning construction for a given season should file well before the monsoon so that sanction and tendering are complete in time.

Grievances and follow-ups go to the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board at Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar - 382 010, on the numbers listed above. Matters that remain unresolved can be escalated to the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department through agri.gujarat.gov.in.