Scheme to Provide Assistance in Cow Maintenance Expenses to Farmers Practicing Completely Natural Farming Based on Indigenous Cows

What is the cow maintenance assistance scheme for natural farming farmers?

The Scheme to Provide Assistance in Cow Maintenance Expenses to Farmers Practicing Completely Natural Farming Based on Indigenous Cows is a scheme of Gujarat's Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, known locally as the desi gay nibhav kharch sahay component of the state's Prakrutik Krushi: natural farming; programme. The scheme pays a farmer a fixed monthly amount towards the cost of keeping one indigenous cow, credited as an annual payment into the farmer's bank account.

The reason a cow sits at the centre of a farming scheme is practical rather than symbolic. Natural farming as promoted in Gujarat is built on a small set of on-farm preparations, jivamrut, ghanjivamrut, beejamrut and mulching, and every one of them is made from the dung and urine of an indigenous cow. A farmer who stops buying chemical fertiliser and pesticide saves money on inputs, but takes on a new recurring cost: feeding and maintaining a desi cow through the year, including in months when she is dry and giving no milk. That is the cost this scheme meets. Without it, the economics of switching to natural farming break for exactly the small farmer the programme wants to reach.

The scheme is administered through the department's natural farming machinery. Gujarat has built a village-level and cluster-level structure of natural farming coordinators and master trainers who register practitioners, run training, and verify claims on the ground. Applications are filed on i-Khedut, the state's single-window portal for agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries schemes.

Key features

• Covers the maintenance of one indigenous cow per beneficiary.
• Paid as a fixed monthly rate, released annually by direct transfer.
• Limited to one member of a family.
• Requires completely natural farming, no chemical fertiliser or pesticide.
• Requires an indigenous (desi) breed cow, not a crossbred animal.
• Applied for on ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in.

The exact monthly rate is notified against the component on i-Khedut for the financial year in question. Read it there. Rates for state agriculture components are revised from time to time, and a figure quoted on a private website or in an old news report is not a safe basis for planning.

Who is eligible for the cow maintenance assistance?

You can claim assistance if:

• You are a farmer resident in Gujarat with land recorded in your name, shown by the 7/12 and 8-A extracts.
• You practise completely natural farming on that land; without chemical fertiliser and chemical pesticide.
• You keep at least one indigenous cow, and the animal is in your possession and identifiable.
• You hold a bank account in your own name for the direct transfer.
• No other member of your family has claimed this assistance for the same period.

You cannot apply, or will not be eligible, if:

• Your cow is a crossbred or exotic animal. The scheme is tied to indigenous breeds, so a Jersey or Holstein Friesian cross does not qualify.
• You are using chemical fertiliser or pesticide on the land covered by the claim. Verification is on the ground, and this is the point it turns on.
• You hold no land record in your own name, since the claim is verified against the land being farmed.
• Another family member has already been sanctioned the same assistance.
• You are not a resident of Gujarat.
• You apply when the component window is closed for the financial year.

What documents are required?

Get the cow's ear tag number on record before applying. Animal identification is how the department distinguishes a genuine claim from a paper one, and a cow without a tag is the commonest cause of a delayed verification.

How to apply for cow maintenance assistance on i-Khedut

1. Open ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and select Agriculture as the department, then find the natural farming component for assistance towards indigenous cow maintenance. Confirm that the window for the current financial year is open — components on i-Khedut open and close by notification.
2. Register as a new applicant if this is your first application, using your Aadhaar number and mobile number, then log in.
3. Fill the application with your personal details, village and taluka, survey numbers of the land being farmed naturally, the details of your indigenous cow including the ear tag number, and your bank account number with IFSC code.
4. Upload the documents, Aadhaar, the 7/12 and 8-A extracts, the bank passbook copy, and your evidence of owning the cow.
5. Submit the form and print the confirmation. Sign the printout and deliver it, with self-attested photocopies, to the office named on the acknowledgement within the period stated on it.
6. Be available for verification. The village-level natural farming coordinator or the taluka agriculture staff will inspect the land and the animal.
7. Once sanctioned, check that the annual credit reaches your account, and raise a query at the taluka agriculture office if it does not.

Farmers who are not comfortable with the online form can have the application filed by the Village Computer Entrepreneur at the gram panchayat or by the taluka agriculture office. Ask for the printed acknowledgement in either case; it carries the application number you will need for every follow-up.

How is the assistance paid?

Assistance is calculated as a fixed monthly amount for one indigenous cow and released as a single annual credit by direct transfer into the beneficiary's bank account. Payment follows verification, not precedes it. The department confirms that the cow exists, that it is an indigenous breed, and that natural farming is actually being practised on the land claimed, before releasing money.

Because the payment is annual, a farmer should not budget on receiving it monthly. Treat it as a yearly reimbursement of an expense already incurred rather than as a monthly income stream.

How do I check my application status?

1. Log in to ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in with the credentials used at registration.
2. Open the application status option and enter the application number printed on your acknowledgement.
3. Read the stage, submitted, pending verification, sanctioned or rejected, and any remark recorded against the file.

For a hold the portal does not explain, contact the taluka agriculture office or the District Agriculture Officer, who hold the physical file and the verification report.

Why applications get rejected

• Cow is not an indigenous breed, found at verification.
• Chemical inputs in use on the land claimed as naturally farmed.
• No ear tag or animal identification, so the cow cannot be tied to the claim.
• Land record not in the applicant's name, or survey numbers that do not match the land inspected.
• Signed printout not submitted to the named office after online filing.
• Another family member already sanctioned for the same period.
• Bank account mismatch. A different name, a dormant account, or a wrong IFSC code.
• Applying after the component window closed for the financial year.

Fix the specific defect and apply again in the next window rather than filing a duplicate in the same year.

Help and grievance redressal

Raise questions first with the village-level natural farming coordinator or the taluka agriculture office, then with the District Agriculture Officer. The Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department publishes office contacts on agri.gujarat.gov.in, and i-Khedut carries its own help section for registration, login and upload problems.

Applying is free. A panchayat operator may charge only the notified data-entry fee for assisted filing, and no agent is authorised to charge for getting an assistance claim sanctioned.