Plastic Crates Scheme (Madhya Pradesh)

What is the Plastic Crates Scheme?

Plastic Crates Scheme is a post-harvest management component of the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, effective from 19 December 2017 and funded through the centrally sponsored National Agricultural Development Scheme: Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. According to the Khargone district Horticulture Department page for the component, the scheme offers a "maximum 50 per cent grant" to farmers purchasing plastic crates, which materially lowers the cost of procuring them.

The problem the scheme targets sits between the field and the mandi. Most vegetable produce in Madhya Pradesh still travels in gunny sacks, in loose heaps on a trolley, or in second-hand cartons. Tomato, brinjal, chilli, okra, cauliflower and leafy vegetables bruise and compress under their own weight in that kind of handling, and by the time the load reaches the market a visible share of it is downgraded or discarded. The loss is invisible in the farmer's accounts because it never shows up as a cost, it shows up as a lower price per quintal.

A plastic crate solves this cheaply. It is a rigid, ventilated, stackable box, typically holding 20 to 25 kilograms of produce, that carries its own weight rather than transferring it to the fruit below. Crates stack in a trolley without crushing, can be washed between loads so that they do not carry disease from one consignment to the next, and last for years, which is why the department treats the purchase as a capital investment worth subsidising rather than a recurring input.

Plastic Crates Scheme is a small-ticket component. It does not fund a pack house, a cold room or a grading line, those sit under separate post-harvest components of the department. It funds crates, in a sanctioned quantity, at half price.

Who is eligible for the Plastic Crates Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer resident in Madhya Pradesh with cultivable land recorded in your own name in the khasra.
• You grow vegetables or fruit, the crates are a post-harvest handling input, so the department expects a horticulture crop on the holding.
• You are registered on MPFSTS, the Horticulture Department's subsidy tracking system.
• You hold a bank account seeded with Aadhaar, since the grant is transferred directly.
• You can pay the full purchase price first, because the grant is a reimbursement.
• Your district has an unfilled target for the component in the financial year.

The district page records that benefits extend equally across categories — general category farmers, Scheduled Castes, below poverty line beneficiaries and senior citizens receive the same rate.

You cannot apply if:

• You are landless, or cultivate as a tenant with no land in your own name.
• You bought the crates before the sanction order was issued; a pre-dated bill is not eligible.
• Your bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the credit.
• You are a trader, commission agent or transporter rather than a grower, this is a farmer component, not a market-intermediary subsidy.
• The district target is exhausted for the year, in which case the file waits for the next allocation.

What documents are required?

The district page names the photograph, khasra copy, bank passbook and Aadhaar card as the filing documents. The purchase bill is a payment document: the grant is calculated against it and the approved unit cost, whichever is lower.

How to apply for the Plastic Crates Scheme

1. Register on MPFSTS. Open mpfsts.mp.gov.in/mphd, the Madhya Pradesh Farmers Subsidy Tracking System of the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, and use नवीन पंजीयन (निःशुल्क); New Registration, free of charge.
2. Or file through an online centre. The district page notes that farmers register through online centres rather than at government offices directly; MPOnline kiosks and Common Service Centres handle the same application.
3. Select the component and the financial year from the Horticulture Department's scheme list, and state the crop and the area you handle, since the sanctioned crate quantity is set against it.
4. Upload the documents; Aadhaar, khasra, bank passbook and photograph, and submit.
5. Print the acknowledgement using आवेदन प्रिंट (Application Print) and keep the application number.
6. Wait for the selection list. Where applications exceed the district target, the department draws beneficiaries by lottery and publishes the लाटरी द्वारा चयनित कृषक की सूची on the portal.
7. Collect the sanction order from the District Horticulture Office, and check the sanctioned number of crates and the approved unit cost written on it.
8. Buy the crates from a registered supplier, on a GST bill in your own name, matching the specification in the sanction.
9. Get the crates counted, verified and geotagged by Horticulture Department staff at your farm.
10. Receive the grant by transfer into your Aadhaar-seeded bank account.

How do I check my application status?

1. Open mpfsts.mp.gov.in/mphd and go to the Farmers menu.
2. Select आवेदन स्थिति (Application Status) and enter your application number, or search by Aadhaar number if you have lost it.
3. Check the district lottery selected farmers list for the component.
4. After purchase, confirm with the Senior Horticulture Development Officer that the verification report has been uploaded, since payment follows it.

Why do plastic crate applications get rejected?

• Crates bought before the sanction order was issued.
• Bill in another person's name, or a cash bill without GST details.
• Quantity bought different from the sanctioned number, which caps the grant at the sanctioned figure regardless.
• Crates not produced at inspection, for example where they were resold.
• Land not recorded in the applicant's name.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded.
• Not drawn in the lottery, which is a target constraint rather than a judgement on the file.

Key dates and timing

Plastic Crates Scheme has no fixed statewide last date. Targets follow the financial year, April to March, and the window for a district closes when its target is filled. The practical time to apply is well before your main vegetable harvest, so the sanction, purchase and verification are complete before the crates are actually needed at the field. A sanction that lands mid harvest is of little use that season.

Where to complain

• District Horticulture Officer, for sanction, verification and payment delays and for the current sanctioned quantity and unit cost.
• MPFSTS helpdesk, mpfsts.helpdesk@mp.gov.in, for portal, registration and application status problems.
• Horticulture and Food Processing Department, Vindhyachal Bhawan, 6th Floor, Arera Hills, Bhopal.
• CM Helpline 181, the statewide grievance line, which issues a trackable complaint number and routes it to the district office.

MPFSTS registration is free and the grant is credited to the farmer's own account. No supplier or agent is entitled to a share of it.