Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed Scheme

What is the Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed Scheme?

Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed Scheme is a state plan scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya. According to the department's Compendium of State Plan & Centrally Sponsored Schemes, published by the Agriculture Information Wing of the Directorate of Agriculture at Shillong, the objective is "to promote integrated farming activities for improved livelihood in complementary manner".

Two ideas sit behind that sentence, and both matter for understanding what the scheme is trying to do.

Integrated farming means running more than one enterprise on the same holding so that they support each other rather than compete; crop residues feeding livestock, livestock manure returning to the field, a pond serving both irrigation and fish. The word the department uses is "complementary", and it is the operative word. The scheme is not simply about growing more of one crop.

Micro watershed is the unit of planning. A micro watershed is the small catchment area draining to a single point, and it is the natural planning unit in a hill state like Meghalaya where slope, runoff and soil loss shape what a farmer can grow. Treating the micro watershed rather than the individual plot as the unit lets the department align soil and water conservation with what is planted above and below it.

What the scheme provides

The compendium records the pattern of assistance as "Training, Awareness Program, Extension, Technology Support, Subsidy on Inputs".

What it does not publish

The same compendium records the scheme's type of assistance and entitlement as "NA". In other words, Meghalaya has not published a per-hectare cost norm, a subsidy percentage or a maximum benefit amount for this scheme. That is an unusual gap, and it is stated here rather than filled with a guess. A farmer who wants to know what the scheme will actually pay for in a given year has to ask the District Agriculture Officer what has been sanctioned, because the figure is not in the public documents.

This makes Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed one of the thinner entries in Meghalaya's scheme portfolio in terms of published detail. A real programme with a clear objective and a clear application route, but without a published entitlement table.

Who is eligible for the scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a bonafide farmer of Meghalaya engaged in agriculture.
• You hold cultivable land. The department's selection criterion is explicitly framed as bonafide farmers "having sufficient available cultivable land".
• Your holding falls within the jurisdiction of the officer you approach; one of 39 C&RD blocks, 16 agriculture circles, 11 agriculture sub-divisions or 11 districts.

You cannot apply, or you will not be selected, if:

• You are not a bonafide farmer of the state and do not cultivate land here.
• You have no cultivable land available, since selection turns on sufficient available land to carry the integrated activities.
• You are seeking a fixed cash entitlement. None is published under this head, and the assistance is delivered as training, extension, technology support and subsidy on inputs.
• Funds for the year are exhausted, or the scheme has not been sanctioned for that year. Selection is first come, first served subject to availability of funds.

No income ceiling, age limit or caste restriction is published for this scheme.

What documents are required?

The department prescribes only the plain paper application. The rest of the list reflects standard practice at Meghalaya block and circle agriculture offices.

How to apply for the Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed Scheme

1. Check that the scheme is running. Ask your District Agriculture Officer whether Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed has been sanctioned for the current year and what inputs or support have been allotted. The compendium carries an explicit caution that continuation of any scheme in a given year rests with the State Government and depends on funds.
2. Write a plain paper application addressed to the District Agriculture Officer of your district. Set out your name, village, block, the area of your holding, the enterprises you already run, and the complementary activities you want to add.
3. Attach your land proof and bonafide certificate.
4. Submit it through the Agriculture Development Officer of your C&RD Block or Agriculture Circle, which is the route named in the compendium. The Sub-Divisional Agricultural Officer, District Agriculture Officer and District Training Officers at Tura and Shillong are the other listed contacts.
5. Take an acknowledgement with the date of receipt, because selection is first come, first served.
6. Follow up after a few weeks at the block office, during office hours of 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM in summer and 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM in winter.

How do I check the status of my application?

There is no online tracker for this scheme.

1. Return to the Agriculture Development Officer who received the application, quoting the submission date.
2. Escalate to the District Agriculture Officer of your district.
3. Call the Kisan Call Centre on 1800-180-1551, open 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM every day including Sunday.
4. Call 1917, the state's toll-free iTEAMS line, for agro-advisory and to reach a subject matter specialist.

Which related schemes publish actual amounts?

Because this scheme publishes no entitlement figures, farmers pursuing integrated farming in Meghalaya are usually better served by naming a companion scheme in their application. The closest is Rainfed Area Development (RAD), a separate centrally sponsored scheme under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture which popularises the Integrated Farming System on a cluster approach. Under RAD, the department's FAQ on agriculture schemes publishes these cost norms:

Integrated Farming System

• Small ruminant plus mixed farming: Rs 50,000 per hectare
• Crossbreed cow plus mixed farming: Rs 80,000 per hectare
• Horticulture-based farming system: Rs 50,000 per hectare

Value Addition and Resource Conservation

• Water harvesting structure — Rs 1,80,000 per hectare
• In-situ measures; Rs 16,000 per hectare
• Contour bunding; Rs 10,000 per hectare
• Vermicompost unit or organic compost production; Rs 16,000 per hectare

Training on IFS and Value Addition and Resource Conservation: Rs 10,000 per training.

In each case 50% is borne by the beneficiary, and the assistance is distributed either in cash or in kind. RAD beneficiaries are selected by the Cluster Development Committee, since the scheme works on a cluster approach, and applications go in plain paper to the District Agriculture Officer or the block or circle Agriculture Development Officer through that committee.

These are RAD norms, not the norms of Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed. They are set out here so readers can see what published figures exist for integrated farming in Meghalaya and ask for the right scheme by name.

Common reasons applications do not succeed

• Scheme not sanctioned that year. Confirm with the District Agriculture Officer before applying, rather than after.
• Funds exhausted. Selection is first come, first served subject to availability of funds. Apply early in the financial year.
• Insufficient available cultivable land. The stated selection criterion turns on this; attach land documents that show the area clearly.
• Application asks for a specific rupee amount. Since no entitlement is published under this head, frame the request around the activities you want supported, and let the officer map it to a sanctioned head.
• No bonafide certificate. Obtain one from the village Headman or Nokma before submitting.

What are the key dates?

Integrated Farming in Micro Watershed Scheme has no published last date to apply. Applications are received through the year and cleared first come, first served against the year's sanctioned funds. The useful window is therefore early in the financial year, once allotments reach the district, and before the sowing season in which you intend to start the new activity.

Where do I go for help or to complain?

• Kisan Call Centre: 1800-180-1551, 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM daily, including Sunday.
• iTEAMS: dial 1917, toll free, for advisory, market connect and transport at Rs 2 per km per quintal.
• Director of Agriculture, Cleve Colony, Government Fruit Garden, Shillong-793003 to telephone (0364) 2222460, email agri-meg@nic.in.
• Written grievances to the District Agriculture Officer of your district during office hours, or directly to the Director of Agriculture at headquarters.
• Online grievances on the state government grievance portal at mii.nic.in.

Applying is free. No fee is payable to any officer or intermediary for registration or selection under this scheme.