Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme (Madhya Pradesh)

What is the Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme?

Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme is a subsidy component operated by the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, and funded through the centrally sponsored National Agricultural Development Scheme: Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana. According to the Khargone district Horticulture Department page for the scheme, the government provides "a maximum of 50 per cent grant" toward the cost of lining a farm pond, with the farmer meeting the rest.

The problem the scheme addresses is specific and physical. A farm pond dug in the black cotton and murrum soils common across the Nimar and Malwa belts fills in the monsoon and then loses a large share of that water to seepage through the floor and side walls long before the Rabi crop needs it. A pond that holds water for six weeks is a very different asset from one that holds it for six months. Lining the pond with a plastic film; usually a silpaulin or LDPE sheet laid over a prepared, stone-free bed and anchored in a trench around the rim; cuts seepage sharply and turns a seasonal dugout into a genuine dry-season irrigation source.

Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme is therefore best understood as the second half of a two-step investment. The excavation is one scheme; the lining is another. Farmers in Madhya Pradesh commonly dig the pond under Balram Talab Yojana of the Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development Department and then apply separately to the Horticulture Department for the lining grant. The two departments, the two portals and the two sanctions are distinct, and confusing them is the single most common practical error.

The component matters most to horticulture growers, which is why it sits with the Horticulture Department rather than the agriculture department. A lined pond supports drip irrigation for an orchard, a vegetable block or a shadenet house through February to May, when open wells in the region are at their weakest.

Who is eligible for the Plastic Lining of Farm Pond 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 already have an excavated farm pond or dugout on that land, or one sanctioned and under construction.
• You are registered on the MPFSTS portal of the Horticulture Department.
• You hold a bank account seeded with Aadhaar, since the grant is paid by direct transfer.
• The district has an unfilled target for the component in the current financial year.

The district scheme page is explicit that category makes no difference to the rate: "equal amount of grant is provided" to general category, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, below poverty line and senior citizen beneficiaries. Category still matters for which target pool your application competes in, but not for how much you receive.

You cannot apply if:

• You are landless or cultivate as a tenant without land in your own name.
• You have no pond to line. This component does not fund excavation, and an application without an existing dugout is not eligible.
• You have already installed the lining and completed the purchase before applying, because payment follows a sanction and a pre-work check.
• Your bank account is not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the transfer even after approval.
• The district target for the year is exhausted, in which case the application waits for the next year's allocation rather than being approved.

What documents are required?

The district page lists the first four as the documents needed to file. The purchase bill is not an application document but a payment document, keep the original, because the grant is calculated against it.

How to apply for the Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme

1. Register on the MPFSTS portal. Open mpfsts.mp.gov.in/mphd, the Madhya Pradesh Farmers Subsidy Tracking System run by the Horticulture and Food Processing Department, and choose नवीन पंजीयन (निःशुल्क) — New Registration, which is free. Aadhaar-based and biometric registration options are both offered.
2. Or go to an MPOnline kiosk or Common Service Centre. The district page notes that farmers register "at any authorised online centre" using the same four documents. This is the normal route for farmers without a smartphone or internet at home.
3. Select the scheme. Under the Horticulture Department's scheme list, pick the plastic lining of farm pond component and the financial year for which targets are open.
4. Enter land and pond details: khasra number, village, area of holding and the size of the existing pond, and upload the Aadhaar, khasra, bank passbook and photograph.
5. Submit and print the acknowledgement. Use the आवेदन प्रिंट (Application Print) option and keep the application number safe; every later query depends on it.
6. Wait for the lottery. Where applications exceed the district target, the Horticulture Department selects beneficiaries by lottery and publishes the लाटरी द्वारा चयनित कृषक की सूची (list of farmers selected by lottery) on the same portal.
7. Collect the sanction order from the District Horticulture Office before buying any film. Work started before sanction is the classic way to lose the grant.
8. Buy and install the lining, keeping the GST purchase bill in the applicant's own name.
9. Get the work inspected and geotagged by Horticulture Department staff. The portal's download section carries the department's geotagging documentation and process flow.
10. Receive the grant by bank transfer into your Aadhaar-seeded account.

How do I check my application status?

1. Open mpfsts.mp.gov.in/mphd and go to the Farmers menu.
2. Choose आवेदन स्थिति (Application Status) and enter your application number, or use the search by Aadhaar number option if you have mislaid it.
3. Check the lottery selected farmers list for your district and scheme to see whether your name was drawn for the year's target.
4. After installation, confirm with the Senior Horticulture Development Officer that the geotagged inspection report has been uploaded, this is where most payment delays sit.

Why do plastic lining applications fail?

• Land not in the applicant's name. Correct the khasra through the patwari before reapplying.
• No existing pond, or a pond too small or unsuitable for lining.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which stops the transfer at the last step.
• Purchase bill missing, in another name, or dated before the sanction.
• Not selected in the lottery. This is not a rejection on merit; reapply when the next year's targets open.
• Duplicate registration on MPFSTS with two Aadhaar or mobile combinations, which flags the file for verification.

Key dates and timing

Plastic Lining of Farm Pond Scheme has no fixed statewide last date. The Horticulture Department opens registration on MPFSTS when the financial year's targets are released, and the window for a given component closes once the district target is filled. Practically, the right time to line a pond is the pre-monsoon window of April to June, so the sheet is anchored and the pond fills in the first rains. A farmer who is sanctioned in September has lost that year's filling.

Where to complain

• District Horticulture Officer: first stop for sanction, inspection and payment delays.
• 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, Madhya Pradesh's statewide grievance line, which issues a trackable complaint number and routes the case to the district.

MPFSTS registration is free. No agent or middleman is entitled to a share of the grant, and any demand for a cut of the sanction should be reported through the CM Helpline.