Training and Tour Unit

What is the Training and Tour Unit?

Training and Tour Unit is an agricultural extension activity of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand. It is not a cash-transfer scheme; instead it delivers two things farmers value; structured training in modern farming methods, and organised exposure tours to model farms, research institutions and demonstration sites where those methods can be seen working. The activity sits within Uttarakhand's wider agricultural extension effort, which aims to make the extension system farmer-driven and to spread scientific practice from the lab and the model farm to the ordinary field.

According to the state's agricultural extension programmes, farmers taken through such training and tours are exposed to practices in crop management, soil health, irrigation techniques and sustainable farming, and interact with scientists and successful growers. The "training" component covers classroom and field instruction; the "tour" component takes farmers to see best practice in person. Seeing a technique demonstrated at a model farm is often far more persuasive than reading about it, which is the reason exposure visits are built into the extension system.

Because this is an extension activity delivered through the department's own machinery rather than an individual entitlement, published scheme-level detail is limited. What is documented is the nature of the benefit: free training and exposure tours, and the department that delivers it. Figures such as a per-farmer tour allowance or a fixed number of trainees are set administratively at block and district level and are not published as a fixed benefit, so this guide does not state amounts that cannot be verified on an official source.

Who is eligible for the Training and Tour Unit?

You can take part if:

• You are a farmer resident in Uttarakhand.
• You hold cultivable land recorded in your name in the land records.
• You are nominated or selected by the block or district Agriculture office for a training batch or exposure tour.

You cannot expect a personal cash benefit, this is important to understand. The Training and Tour Unit does not pay a direct benefit to individuals. A farmer who applies expecting a cash transfer is not eligible for one, because none exists under this activity; the benefit is the free training and the organised visit.

Farmers who are not residents of Uttarakhand, or who do not cultivate land in the state, are outside the scope of the activity.

What does the Training and Tour Unit provide?

• Training in modern and scientific farming, crop management, soil health, irrigation and sustainable methods.
• Exposure tours to model farms, research institutions and demonstration sites.
• Interaction with scientists and progressive farmers, so that questions can be answered and ideas exchanged.

The value to a farmer is knowledge and contacts rather than money. The department's aim is that farmers return from a training programme or a tour and adopt one or more improved practices on their own land.

How is a training or tour funded, and what does a farmer get in kind?

The Training and Tour Unit sits inside the same agricultural-extension machinery as the state's Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (ATMA), and its activities are funded on the same pattern. Under the Ministry of Agriculture's extension cost norms, a farmer training covers refreshments, meals and stay up to Rs 450 per farmer per day, with a training kit and inputs of up to Rs 300 per participant; for an exposure tour, travel by bus or sleeper-class rail is reimbursed at actual cost. These sums are not handed to the farmer as cash, they pay for the food, travel, lodging and materials that make the training or tour free at the point of use. Because Uttarakhand is a hill and special-category state, the central government meets a larger share of these costs than in the plains, which is one reason exposure tours to research stations and model farms are a regular feature of the state's extension calendar. A farmer's real "benefit" is therefore a fully funded training day or tour plus the knowledge and contacts that come with it, not a bank credit.

What documents are required?

The land record and residence proof establish that you are a farmer of the state, which is the basic condition for being nominated for training or a tour.

How to apply for the Training and Tour Unit

The activity is accessed offline through the department's extension staff. Follow these steps:

1. Visit your block or district Agriculture office and ask about training programmes and exposure tours planned for your area.
2. Give your details: Aadhaar, land records and residence proof — so your name can be added to the list of farmers for a batch.
3. Get nominated. The department selects farmers for each training programme or tour through its extension machinery.
4. Attend the training or tour on the date the office gives you.

Because selection is made locally, staying in regular touch with your block Agriculture office and the local agriculture supervisor is the most reliable way to be included.

How do I check whether I have been selected?

There is no online tracker for this activity. Confirm your selection and the schedule directly with the block or district Agriculture office where you registered your interest. The Department of Agriculture portal at agriculture.uk.gov.in lists office contacts and the department's extension and scheme information you can use to reach the right officer.

Why might a farmer be left out, and how to improve the chances?

• Not registered with the block office, the department nominates from farmers it knows; register your interest and keep your details updated.
• Land record not in your name: update the khasra/khatauni so your holding is correctly recorded.
• Expecting a cash benefit. The activity provides training and tours, not money, so apply for what it actually offers.

Where do I raise a query or grievance?

For queries or grievances about training and exposure tours, approach the block or district Agriculture office and then the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand, whose contacts are at agriculture.uk.gov.in. The state CM helpline 1905 can also record and route a complaint. Participation in the training and tours is free; no payment should be made to any agent to be included.

A note on this guide

The Training and Tour Unit is a narrow extension activity rather than a standalone benefit scheme, and little scheme-specific material is published beyond the myScheme listing and the state's agricultural extension programme pages. This guide records what is verifiable, the department, the nature of the benefit, the basic eligibility and the offline route, and deliberately avoids stating benefit amounts or trainee numbers that cannot be confirmed on an official source. Readers may be served just as well by the Department of Agriculture's broader extension and training pages.