Plantation Crop Development Scheme

What is the Plantation Crop Development Scheme in Meghalaya?

Plantation Crop Development is a state plan scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya, run through the Horticulture wing of the department. According to the department's own scheme record on megagriculture.gov.in, the objective is "to boost up the area and production of all plantation crops like Arecanut, Cashewnut, Coconut, Pineapple etc." and "to provide 50% subsidy planting materials and construction of soakage tank."

Plantation Crop Development is funded by the State Government, the Meghalaya Government portal lists the sponsor for the department's plantation and horticulture scheme heads as "State" and the concerned department as the Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department. There is no central matching share attached to this particular head, which is why the benefit is delivered as a straightforward 50% subsidy rather than through a mission cost-norm table.

The scheme matters because plantation crops are among the few cash crops that grow well on Meghalaya's slopes. The department's plantation crops page records that arecanut "has been grown in Meghalaya as an important commercial crop" since time immemorial, and that over a fifteen-year run the state added an average of 306 hectares of arecanut area, 531 metric tonnes of production and 28.046 kg per hectare of productivity every year. Cashewnut, the second crop named in the scheme, is grown extensively in West Garo Hills and South Garo Hills.

Who is eligible for the Plantation Crop Development Scheme?

You can get the benefit if:

• You are a bonafide farmer of Meghalaya engaged in agriculture.
• You own or lease at least 0.2 hectares of land. The department states the criterion as "possessing own or leased land of at least 0.2 (hectares) or more", so a leased plot counts if you can show the lease.
• You are planting one of the plantation crops the scheme covers: arecanut, cashewnut, coconut, pineapple and similar plantation crops.
• You apply through the Horticulture Development Officer with jurisdiction over the area where you ordinarily reside.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a bonafide farmer of the state, or you cannot show any cultivable land.
• Your holding is below 0.2 hectares. This is the one hard numeric bar in the eligibility line, and applications under it are not taken up.
• You want planting material for resale. Nurseries and traders are not the beneficiary group; the department runs a separate scheme head, Development and Maintenance of Orchard cum Horti Nurseries, for nursery infrastructure.
• You apply outside your own block or circle. Meghalaya's Citizen Charter is explicit that applications go to the officer "having jurisdiction in the area where the applicant ordinarily resides".

Selection among eligible applicants is on a first come, first served basis, which in practice means the block office's register decides the order. Applying early in the financial year, before planting material is allotted, is the single most useful thing a farmer can do.

What documents are required?

The department's Citizen Charter notes that prescribed forms, where they exist, can be downloaded from megagriculture.gov.in, and that a plain-paper application is acceptable when a prescribed form is not available. For this scheme head, the department's own instruction is plain paper.

How to apply for the Plantation Crop Development Scheme

1. Decide the crop and the area. Work out how many arecanut, cashewnut, coconut or pineapple plants you need and how much of your 0.2 hectares or more you will plant this season. The subsidy is one-year assistance, so it is tied to a specific planting.
2. Write the plain-paper application. Address it to the Horticulture Development Officer (HDO) of your CD Block or Horticulture Circle. State your name, village, block, the crop, the area, and whether you also want assistance for a soakage tank and polypipes.
3. Attach your land proof and ID. A patta, land record, registered lease or a certificate from the village headman showing at least 0.2 hectares, plus a government photo ID.
4. Submit it at the block or circle office and ask for the entry number in the receipt register. Meghalaya has 39 CD Blocks and 6 Horticulture Circles, so there is an HDO within reach of most villages.
5. Follow up with the District Horticulture Officer (DHO) of your district if you hear nothing. The DHO is the officer the department names, along with the HDO, under "Whom to Contact" for this scheme.
6. Lift the planting material when called. The subsidy is delivered as a 50% subsidised sale of planting material and polypipes, so you pay the remaining half at the time of lifting.

There is no online application for this scheme head and no fee. If anyone asks for money to get your name into the list, that is not part of the scheme.

How much benefit does the scheme give?

The department publishes the entitlement in two parts:

• 50% subsidy on the purchase of planting materials and polypipes.
• Financial assistance at 50% subsidy for the construction of a soakage tank.

The pattern of assistance is recorded as one year assistance. That means the support is a one-time input package for the planting you undertake, not a recurring annual payment. A farmer who plants arecanut this year and cashewnut two years later applies afresh for the second planting.

The department has not published a per-hectare ceiling or a unit cost table for this scheme head, so the rupee value depends on the rate at which the department procures planting material and the size of the soakage tank sanctioned. Ask the HDO for the current year's rate before you commit, that figure is fixed locally and is not on the website.

Which varieties does the department recommend?

Matching the variety to your altitude and rainfall is what decides whether the subsidy turns into a surviving orchard. The department's plantation crops page records the following:

• Arecanut; Local selection, Mangala and Sumangala. The department also flags bud rot, a disease that progresses downward from the top of the palm, as the main threat, and notes that Meghalaya's terrain makes spray operations difficult. Newer arecanut area has come up in northern Khasi Hills and Ri-Bhoi.
• Cashewnut: Ullal-3, Ullal-4, Vengurla-1, Vengurla-4 and Vengurla-7. Cashew needs an altitude below 700 metres and a minimum of 600 mm annual rainfall, and does badly on waterlogged ground and heavy clay soils. This is why the crop concentrates in West and South Garo Hills.

For plant protection on a young plantation, the department's separate Plant Protection including Integrated Pest Management scheme distributes bio-pesticides free and sells sprayers at 50% subsidy; worth applying for in the same visit.

Where does the scheme fit in Meghalaya's horticulture push?

The department's horticulture thrust areas name "horticulture and plantation crops like tea, cashewnut, coconut, banana, ginger, turmeric, arecanut" as the route to higher farm revenue and less dependence on traditional practices. Plantation Crop Development sits alongside sibling state plan heads — Fruit Development, Vegetable Development, Spices Development, Tea Development and Floriculture Development: each with its own subsidy pattern. Tea, for instance, carries a cash subsidy of Rs 15,000 per hectare plus plant protection materials at 50% subsidy, and is applied for separately.

Common reasons applications fail, and how to fix them

• Holding below 0.2 hectares. The scheme's only numeric bar. If your own plot is short, a registered lease that takes the total to 0.2 hectares or more is the documented way around it.
• No acceptable land proof. Much of Meghalaya's land is held under community and clan tenure without a patta. A certificate from the village headman is the document the block office normally accepts in that situation.
• Applying to the wrong officer. Agriculture scheme applications go to the Agriculture Development Officer; horticulture scheme applications, including this one, go to the Horticulture Development Officer. Applications lodged with the wrong wing get delayed rather than rejected.
• Applying late. Because selection is first come, first served and depends on the planting material actually in stock, a late application often gets carried to the next season.
• Asking for a crop the block is not stocking. Coconut and pineapple material is not raised in every circle. Confirm availability with the HDO before applying.

Help and grievance redressal

• Director of Horticulture, Cleve Colony, Government Fruit Garden, Shillong 793003 to telephone (0364) 2227464, email hort-meg@nic.in
• Director of Agriculture, same address, telephone (0364) 2222460, fax (0364) 2223228, email agri-meg@nic.in
• District Horticulture Officer of your district, in office hours: 10.00 AM to 5.00 PM in summer and 10.00 AM to 4.30 PM in winter
• Kisan Call Centre; toll free 1800-180-1551, 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM daily including Sunday
• 1917 iTEAMS, dial 1917 free for agro-advisory and for moving your harvest to market at Rs 2 per km per quintal
• Online grievances. The state grievance portal at mii.nic.in

The Citizen Charter of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare states that grievances may be given in writing to the concerned District Agricultural Officer or District Horticulture Officer during office hours, or directly to the Director of Agriculture or Director of Horticulture at the headquarters in Shillong.