Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award

What is the Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award?

Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award, listed on the Directorate of Agriculture's own site as "Sardar Patel Krushi Sansodhan Puraskar", is a state-sponsored scheme of the Directorate of Agriculture, Gujarat, which works under the state's Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department. It appears at entry 13 in the Directorate's published list of 29 state-sponsored schemes at dag.gujarat.gov.in.

The scheme is a recognition award for agricultural research, named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Gujarat-born statesman whose association with farmers' organisation in Kheda and Bardoli makes him the natural namesake for the state's agricultural honours.

This guide is deliberately short and cautious about numbers. The Directorate lists the scheme by name in its state-sponsored scheme index, but the detailed scheme page on dag.gujarat.gov.in is rendered by client-side scripting and its contents — the prize money, the number of awards each year, the nomination window and the selection committee: could not be read from any Gujarat government source at the time of writing. Rather than carry forward figures from unofficial sources, this page states only what the Directorate itself publishes.

Who is eligible for the Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award?

The award is aimed at:

• Agricultural researchers and scientists working in Gujarat, typically at a state agricultural university, a research station or a government research institution.
• Research institutions whose work has advanced crop production, protection, soil management, horticulture or farm mechanisation in the state.

The following are not eligible, because this is not a farm-benefit scheme:

• Individual farmers seeking a subsidy, an input kit, equipment assistance or income support cannot apply. The award recognises research; it does not transfer money to a cultivator's bank account.
• Applicants outside Gujarat, since this is a state-sponsored scheme funded by the Gujarat exchequer.
• Commercial agri-input companies looking for a marketing endorsement. The award is a government recognition, not a product certification.

This is the single most important thing for a reader to take away. Many state scheme aggregators list the Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award alongside farmer subsidy schemes, which leads people to look for an application form that does not exist. There is no iKhedut counter, no Digital Gujarat service and no citizen-facing online form for this award.

How to apply for or be nominated for the Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award

Because the award runs on nomination rather than self-application, the real route is institutional:

1. Work through your institution. A researcher at a Gujarat state agricultural university, a research station or an ICAR-linked institute in the state should approach the head of the institution, who forwards nominations to the Directorate of Agriculture.
2. Ask the Directorate of Agriculture for the current year's nomination circular. Circulars and government resolutions for state-sponsored schemes are published in the Circular and Government Resolutions sections of dag.gujarat.gov.in and agri.gujarat.gov.in. Call 079-23256116 or write to dir-agri@gujarat.gov.in to confirm whether the window is open.
3. Prepare the nomination in the prescribed format, setting out the research work, the period over which it was done, its verified impact on Gujarat agriculture, and any publications or field trials that evidence it.
4. Have the nomination endorsed and forwarded by the head of the institution to the Directorate of Agriculture, Krishi Bhavan, Sector 10-A, CH Road, Gandhinagar.
5. Follow the Directorate's circulars for the announcement of results. Awards of this kind in Gujarat are typically conferred at a state agriculture event rather than notified individually by post.

Where does this scheme sit among Gujarat's agriculture schemes?

The Directorate of Agriculture's state-sponsored list of 29 schemes is dominated by direct farmer assistance rather than awards. A farmer who reached this page looking for money is almost certainly looking for one of these instead:

• Assistance to farmers to purchase heavy farm equipment (tractor)
• Wire fencing around the farm for crop protection
• Scheme to provide financial assistance to purchase a solar power unit or kit for solar fencing
• Kisan Parivahan Yojana for medium-size goods carriage vehicles
• Scheme for assistance on purchase of a smartphone by farmers
• Chief Minister's Agricultural Mechanization Scheme (AGR-2, AGR-3, AGR-4)
• Assistance to encourage adoption of organic farming
• CM on-farm storage structure scheme
• Farmers Family Accidental Insurance Scheme
• Incentive assistance to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe farmers for sugarcane area, production and productivity
• Training for Agriculture Learning and Integrated Mission (TALIM)

All of these run through the iKhedut portal, which is Gujarat's single application platform for agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries subsidies, and which opens application windows for specific components at announced times in the year.

Help and contact

• Directorate of Agriculture, Gujarat: Krishi Bhavan, Sector 10-A, CH Road, Gandhinagar, Gujarat
• Phone: 079-23256116
• Email: dir-agri@gujarat.gov.in
• Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department: Block No. 5, First Floor, New Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar to 079-23250803, secagri@gujarat.gov.in
• Scheme list: dag.gujarat.gov.in/Home/StateSponsored

A note on completeness. The prize amount, the number of awards, the eligibility years and the nomination deadline for the Sardar Patel Agriculture Research Award are not published on any Gujarat government page that could be read at the time of writing. Anyone preparing a nomination should confirm the current year's terms directly with the Directorate of Agriculture on 079-23256116 before relying on figures quoted elsewhere online.