Production Incentive / Back-Ended Subsidy for Cultivation of Horticulture Crops

What is the horticulture production incentive in Puducherry?

Production Incentive / Back-Ended Subsidy for Cultivation of Horticulture Crops is a crop-wise cash incentive of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Territory of Puducherry, administered by the Office of the Additional Director of Agriculture (Horticulture) at the Botanical Garden, Puducherry. Farmers holding a Farmers Identity Card or authenticated land records receive one-time, bi-annual or annual assistance depending on the crop they grow.

The design reflects how horticulture crops actually behave. A mango or guava orchard is planted once and yields for decades, so the incentive is a one-time payment at establishment. Vegetables turn over twice a year on the Thai and Aadi pattams, so the incentive is bi-annual and can be claimed in both seasons. Coconut, tapioca and betel vine are perennial or long-duration crops harvested every year, so the incentive is annual. Each rate is published in the Department's Standard Operating Procedure, and the subsidy is calculated on a pro-rata basis against the extent verified.

The scheme is back-ended, which is the recurring pattern across Puducherry's agriculture support. The farmer plants and cultivates at their own cost, the Agricultural Officer (Horticulture) inspects the standing crop in coordination with the Agricultural Officers of the respective Uzhavar Uthaviyagams, and the money is released by Direct Benefit Transfer afterwards.

How much is paid for each crop?

One-time assistance

Bi-annual assistance: two seasons per year, Thai and Aadi pattams

Annual assistance

Two features of this table repay attention. First, the highest single rate, Rs 25,000 for other fruits, is deliberately reserved for fruits not covered under the National Horticulture Mission, so the territorial scheme fills the gap the central mission leaves rather than duplicating it. Second, the vegetable rates are per season and claimable twice a year, so a winter vegetable grower who claims in both the Thai and Aadi pattams draws more across the year than the headline figure suggests.

Who is eligible for the production incentive?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer of any category cultivating horticulture crops in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• You hold a Farmers Identity Card containing the survey numbers and extent of your holding, or authenticated land records or documents.
• You are actually cultivating the crop claimed on the extent claimed, and are willing to allow periodic field inspection by the Agricultural Officer (Horticulture).

The Department places no bar by landholding size, income or social category. That is unusual among Puducherry's agriculture schemes and is stated plainly in the Standard Operating Procedure: the incentive is available "to all category of farmers with farmers identity card / authenticated land records / documents".

You are not eligible if:

• You have neither a Farmers Identity Card nor an authenticated land document. A sale deed, partition deed, gift deed or will.
• You are a tenant who cannot produce a cultivation certificate, from the landowner or from the Agriculture or Revenue Department after joint verification.
• You are a tenant on institutional land, owned by a religious institution, wakf, mutt, trust or municipality, and cannot produce the letter of consent from that institution in the prescribed form.
• The crop or extent claimed does not match the field at inspection. The pro-rata calculation follows the inspection, not the application.
• You are claiming for a fruit already covered under the National Horticulture Mission under the Rs 25,000 "other fruits" head, which is expressly limited to fruits outside the NHM.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the horticulture production incentive

1. Watch for the call for applications. The Department gives wide publicity to the issue and receipt of applications for each crop and each season, so the timing depends on which crop you are claiming for.
2. Collect the prescribed form during office hours from the Agricultural Officer at your Uzhavar Udhaviyagam, the farmers' help centre, or print it from agri.py.gov.in.
3. Fill in every mandatory field, paste the passport-sized photograph and sign across it where the form requires, and attach the copy of the Farmers Identity Card showing survey numbers and extent of holding, or the land document if no card has been issued to you. Tenants must add the cultivation certificate, and, on institutional land, the consent letter.
4. Submit the completed form and documents to the Agricultural Officer of the respective Uzhavar Uthaviyagam.
5. Collect your acknowledgement. The office records the application in the register maintained in the prescribed format and assigns a unique number used for all further references and serving as the acknowledgement.
6. Allow the field inspections. The Agricultural Officers (Horticulture) conduct periodic inspections to verify the progress of cultivation, in coordination with the Agricultural Officers of the Uzhavar Uthaviyagams.
7. Check the provisional list. It is placed for social auditing for 10 days at the horticulture wing of the Department and at the Uzhavar Uthaviyagams, and hosted on agri.py.gov.in for public scrutiny. Raise any objection within that window.

How to apply online through the e-District portal

1. Visit edistrict.py.gov.in, click Login at the top right of the home page and then Register a New Membership.
2. Complete the registration page, username, password, full name, email address, current address, gender, date of birth, mobile number; agree to the declaration, fill the captcha and click Signup.
3. Log in with your username, password and captcha, and open the department-wise list of Government of Puducherry schemes.
4. Select this scheme under the Department of Agriculture, complete every field marked with a red asterisk and upload the mandatory documents, self-attested where required.
5. Tick the declaration and submit. Note the application number, which also reaches your registered mobile number and email address.
6. Track the file at edistrict.py.gov.in/User/TrackApplication.aspx.

How do I check whether my claim is approved?

Three checkpoints exist, and they run in order. The provisional list goes up at the Department's horticulture wing and at the Uzhavar Uthaviyagams for 10 days, and is simultaneously hosted on agri.py.gov.in. Objections are heard in that window. The list is then approved by the Director of Agriculture and the Secretary to Government (Agriculture). The final list is displayed on the notice board of the Uzhavar Uthaviyagams. Offline applicants quote the unique number from the receipt register when following up; online applicants use the Track Application page.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• No Farmers Identity Card and no acceptable land document. Apply for the card through the Uzhavar Udhaviyagam, or enclose the deed or will.
• Tenant claims without a cultivation certificate, or without the institution's consent letter where the land belongs to a trust, wakf, mutt or municipality.
• Extent or crop claimed does not match the inspection, which reduces or defeats the pro-rata sanction.
• Filed outside the season window for that crop. Vegetable claims in particular are tied to the Thai and Aadi pattams.
• Claiming an NHM-covered fruit under the Rs 25,000 "other fruits" head.
• Objections upheld during the 10-day social audit, which remove a name from the provisional list.
• Bank account inactive or name mismatched, which stalls the DBT credit.

Where to raise a grievance

The Department's published grievance officer for horticulture components is the Additional Director of Agriculture (Horticulture), Botanical Garden, Puducherry 605 001, reachable on 0413-2228218; the Deputy Director of Agriculture (Horticulture) is on 0413-2220130. The Director of Agriculture can be contacted on 0413-2336977 or at diragri[dot]py[at]gov[dot]in.

Regional offices: Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal, 04368-230679; Deputy Director of Agriculture, Mahe, 0490-2334525; Deputy Director of Agriculture, Yanam, 0884-2321922.

The Department states in the Standard Operating Procedure that its schemes are subject to change without notice depending on Government guidelines, and directs anyone relying on the published pattern to confirm the current position with the Additional Director of Agriculture (Horticulture) before planting.