Maize Development Scheme (Maize Development through Cluster Approach), Meghalaya

What is the Maize Development Scheme in Meghalaya?

The Maize Development Scheme is a state plan scheme of the Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department, Government of Meghalaya. In the department's own Farmers Friendly Schemes booklet the objective is stated as "increasing food grain production in order to attain self-sufficiency by growing high yielding varieties of maize", and the booklet adds a second, unusually concrete reason: "the scheme will also enhance the farmers economy as the produce will cater the animal feed industry and also lessen on import of feed from outside the state".

That second sentence explains why maize gets its own scheme in a state where paddy is the staple. Meghalaya's poultry and piggery sectors buy feed, and feed maize largely comes in from outside the state. Every quintal of maize grown inside Meghalaya both feeds the grower and substitutes an import, which is a different economic argument from the food-security case made for rice.

The scheme is listed in some scheme directories as Maize Development through Cluster Approach. The department's own booklet lists it plainly as Maize Development. A cluster approach, in the department's usage, means concentrating a crop programme in compact contiguous stretches of land instead of scattered individual plots, so that demonstration, input supply and extension advice can be delivered to a whole neighbourhood at once. The department applies a formal version of this, with beneficiaries selected by a Cluster Development Committee; under its Rainfed Area Development programme, which popularises Integrated Farming System on a cluster approach.

What the scheme supplies

• High yielding variety maize seed, which is the core input.
• Free inputs where the plot is a departmental demonstration. The booklet records the type of assistance as free distribution of inputs, alongside a pattern of assistance of supply of quality seeds "for demonstration or for sale at 50% subsidy".
• Subsidised sale at 50 per cent for ordinary farmer purchases, which is the route most applicants will use.

Who is eligible for the Maize Development Scheme?

You can be selected if:

• You are a bona fide farmer engaged in agriculture in Meghalaya. That is the eligibility criterion the department publishes for this scheme.
• You have sufficient available cultivable land for the maize area you are declaring. The department's stated mode of selection is bona fide farmers having sufficient available cultivable land, on a first come first served basis.
• You apply to the officer having jurisdiction over the area where you ordinarily reside, which is the general rule in the department's citizen charter.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not a cultivator. The scheme distributes to growers, not to the public at large.
• You are a trader or seed dealer buying stock for resale. Seed dealership is a separate licensing service of the same department.
• You have no cultivable land available for the coming maize season, since land availability is the selection filter.
• You are outside Meghalaya, as delivery runs through the state's own block and circle network.

No income limit, holding-size ceiling, age bar or category condition has been notified for this scheme. Anyone quoting one should be asked to show the order.

What documents are required?

How to apply for maize seed in Meghalaya

1. Ask your Agriculture Development Officer which maize varieties are being supplied this season and what the current issue rate is after the 50 per cent subsidy. Varieties change year to year and are matched to altitude and rainfall, so the recommended variety for a Garo Hills block is not automatically the one for a Khasi Hills block.
2. Write a plain-paper application naming your village, block, the area in hectares or acres you will put under maize, and the quantity of seed you need. The department allows plain paper where no prescribed form exists; prescribed forms are downloadable from megagriculture.gov.in.
3. Submit it to the Agriculture Development Officer of your CD Block, there are 39 — or of your Agriculture Circle, of which there are 16. The department's published route for this scheme is exactly this.
4. Say whether you are willing to host a demonstration plot. Demonstration allotments carry free inputs, but the department will use the plot to show results to neighbouring farmers and will expect the recommended package of practices to be followed.
5. Follow up with the Sub-Divisional Agricultural Officer or District Agriculture Officer if the block does not act. Meghalaya has 11 agriculture sub-divisions.
6. Collect the seed before the sowing window, pay the subsidised rate against a receipt, and keep the receipt.

Office hours at these contact points are 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM in summer and 10.00 AM to 4.30 PM in winter.

How the maize benefit is delivered

Nothing under this scheme reaches a bank account. The benefit is physical seed, and where applicable other inputs, handed over at the block or the departmental farm. Two delivery routes exist:

• Sale at 50 per cent subsidy. You pay half against the issue rate and take the seed. This is the ordinary route and is open to any selected bona fide farmer.
• Free supply on a demonstration plot. The department selects a limited number of plots each season for demonstration, supplies inputs free, and uses the plot for extension. Demonstration plots are few and are chosen by the department, not requested as a right.

If a farmer instead encounters maize support under the National Food Security Mission, that is a centrally sponsored scheme covering rice, maize, pulses, jute and oilseeds, supplying quality seeds, machinery and equipment at 50 per cent subsidy with training. The application route is similar: plain paper to the District Agriculture Officer through the ADO, but the scheme, its funds and its records are separate. Ask the block office which scheme your allotment is being booked against, because that determines who to follow up with.

How to check the status of a maize seed application

The scheme has no online tracker. Check in this sequence:

1. Ask the Agriculture Development Officer whether your name is on the block's seed indent for the season and for what quantity.
2. Ask which farm or depot the allotment is drawn from and the collection date.
3. Escalate to the Sub-Divisional Agricultural Officer, then the District Agriculture Officer of your district.
4. For general crop advice, call the Kisan Call Centre on 1800-180-1551, free, 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM daily including Sunday.

Common reasons a maize allotment is not received

• Applied after the sowing window. Maize seed is issued to a calendar, and a late indent cannot be served that year.
• Stock or funds exhausted. Selection is first come first served, so demand in a heavily cropped block is met until the allotment runs out.
• No evidence of cultivable land, which is the department's selection filter.
• Declared area not credible against the land record, which the receiving officer will query before forwarding.
• Expecting free seed on an ordinary plot. Free input distribution is for demonstration purposes; ordinary sale is at 50 per cent subsidy.
• Applied to the wrong officer, for instance to the horticulture side, which handles fruit, spice and plantation crops rather than maize.

Grievance route

Grievances under this scheme follow the department's standard route as published in its citizen charter. Submit a written grievance to the concerned District Agricultural Officer during office hours, or directly to the Director of Agriculture, Cleve Colony, Government Fruit Garden, Shillong-793 003, on (0364) 2222460, email agri-meg@nic.in. Online grievances can be filed at mii.nic.in.

No fee is payable to apply. The only legitimate payment is the subsidised issue rate for the seed, and it should always be against a receipt.