Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)

What is MIDH?

The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare that funds the entire horticulture value chain; from nurseries and planting material to orchards, protected cultivation, post-harvest infrastructure and markets. MIDH has been in operation since 2014-15, and the current operational guidelines are dated 31 December 2024 and run as the MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025.

According to the MIDH guidelines, the scheme covers fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, medicinal and aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa, bamboo and other horticulture crops.

Funding pattern

• 60% Centre, 40% state for developmental programmes in all states except those in the North East and the Himalayas.
• 90% Centre, 10% state for North Eastern and Himalayan states.
• 100% central share for programmes of the National Horticulture Board, the Coconut Development Board, the Central Institute of Horticulture Nagaland, national level agencies, and UTs without a legislature.

Six sub-schemes

Who is eligible for MIDH?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer cultivating any mandated horticulture crop and your state has included the component in its annual action plan for the year.
• You are an FPO, FPC, SHG, farmer interest group or cooperative. Several components, including import of planting material and quality seed production infrastructure, are open specifically to these bodies.
• You are a private nursery, tissue culture unit or cold chain entrepreneur able to meet your share of the project cost and, where required, arrange bank credit.
• You are a public sector body: state horticulture department, SAU, ICAR institute, in which case assistance for many components is 100%.

You cannot apply if:

• You are looking for a cash income-support payment. MIDH is not a direct benefit transfer scheme; it reimburses a share of the cost of a horticulture activity you actually carry out.
• The component you want is not in your state's approved annual action plan for that year. MIDH is demand-driven and state-planned, so availability differs from district to district.
• You want assistance beyond the per-beneficiary ceiling, for example, area expansion beyond 2 hectares per beneficiary, or protected cultivation beyond 2,500 sq m per beneficiary.
• You apply to a central portal. There is no all-India MIDH application form for individual farmers; the route runs through the state.

What documents are required for MIDH?

How to apply for MIDH assistance

1. Check your state's MIDH annual action plan for the year with the district horticulture officer or the State Horticulture Mission — only approved components with allocated targets can be sanctioned.
2. Register on your state horticulture portal where one exists. Many states run MIDH applications through HortNet or an equivalent state system; other states accept applications at the district office.
3. Submit the application with land records, Aadhaar, bank details and a quotation or estimate for the component you want.
4. Wait for pre-inspection and sanction by the district horticulture officer or District Mission Committee, which selects beneficiaries.
5. Execute the work: plant the orchard, erect the polyhouse, or install the unit: using accredited planting material where the guidelines require it.
6. Apply for post-inspection. For area expansion, the second instalment is released in the following year and depends on an 80% survival rate.
7. Receive the subsidy in your bank account through DBT. For credit-linked back-ended components, the subsidy is routed through your financing bank.

How much benefit does MIDH provide?

Cost norms and assistance rates are laid down component by component in Annexure V of the MIDH guidelines. Some of the main ones:

Establishment of new gardens (area expansion), maximum 2 ha per beneficiary

• Assistance is 40% in general areas and 50% in NE and Himalayan states, scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.
• Cost norms include Rs 6.75 lakh per hectare for dragon fruit, Rs 3.00 lakh per hectare for grape including the support system, Rs 2.75 lakh per hectare for passion fruit, Rs 2.50 lakh per hectare for kiwi, Rs 2.00 lakh per hectare for strawberry, Rs 4.00 lakh per hectare for tissue culture datepalm and Rs 1.10 lakh per hectare for banana and pineapple by suckers.
• Payment is in two instalments of 60:40, with the second subject to an 80% survival rate in the second year.

Protected cultivation, maximum 2,500 sq m per beneficiary at 50% assistance

• Naturally ventilated tubular or rectangular greenhouse: Rs 1,200 per sq m up to 500 sq m, Rs 1,050 per sq m from 500 to 1,008 sq m and Rs 1,000 per sq m above that.
• Bamboo or cable-purlin structure: Rs 450 per sq m, limited to 20 units per beneficiary of not more than 200 sq m each.
• Shade net house on a tubular structure: Rs 710 per sq m.
• Plastic or non-woven cloth tunnels: Rs 80 per sq m. Walk-in tunnels: Rs 720 per sq m, up to 3 units of 800 sq m each.
• All these rates are 15% higher in NE and Himalayan states, scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep.

Planting material infrastructure

• Large nursery of 1 to 2 hectares: cost norm up to Rs 30 lakh per hectare, with 100% assistance to the public sector and 40% to the private sector. Each nursery must produce at least 1,00,000 certified plants per hectare a year and be accredited within 18 months of the last instalment.
• Small nursery of 0.4 to 1 hectare: Rs 20 lakh per hectare, with 100% to the public sector and 50% to the private sector, and a minimum output of 50,000 plants per hectare a year.
• New tissue culture unit: project-based up to Rs 250 lakh for a 25 lakh plant capacity, with 100% to the public sector and credit-linked back-ended assistance at 40% for the private sector.

Cold chain

Cold storages up to 5,000 MT are taken up under the NHM and HMNEH sub-schemes, and capacity above 5,000 MT up to 10,000 MT under NHB. Assistance for cold chain components is credit-linked back-ended at 35% in general areas and 50% in NE and Himalayan states, scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep, and has to follow NCCD guidelines.

Who decides MIDH projects?

Sanctioning powers are split by project size. The State Level Sanctioning Committee can clear R&D projects up to Rs 100 lakh, planting material infrastructure up to Rs 25 lakh, protected cultivation up to Rs 70 lakh, mushroom projects up to Rs 20 lakh, horticulture mechanisation up to Rs 7 lakh and post-harvest and marketing infrastructure up to Rs 500 lakh. State Mission Directors can approve projects up to Rs 5 lakh where costs follow MIDH norms. Projects of NHB and CDB are approved by those Boards' own committees.

Fund flow is tracked on MIDH SURAKSHA, and implementing agencies are required to transfer money to beneficiaries electronically, preferably through DBT into their bank accounts.

Help and grievance redressal for MIDH

• Kisan Call Centre: 1800-180-1551, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, in 22 languages.
• State Horticulture Mission / district horticulture officer. The first point of contact for application status, inspection and subsidy release.
• Official portal: midh.gov.in carries the operational guidelines and state contacts.

Because MIDH assistance is delivered through state machinery, the practical answer to "how much will I get" always depends on your state's annual action plan for that year. Confirm the component, the ceiling and the current-year target with your district horticulture office before spending money.