Fencing of Old Orchards Scheme - Uttarakhand

What is the Fencing of Old Orchards Scheme?

Fencing of Old Orchards Scheme: Udyanon ki Gherbad ki Yojana in the department's listing, is a state-sector scheme of the Department of Horticulture and Food Processing, Government of Uttarakhand, run through the State Horticulture Mission. It sits at serial number 6 of the department's State DBT Mission list with scheme code 2401001191400, so the assistance is released as a Direct Benefit Transfer into the grower's bank account.

The scheme addresses what is, in practical terms, the largest uninsured loss in Uttarakhand horticulture. An orchard in the state's hill and Terai belts sits next to forest. Monkeys strip fruit before it ripens, wild boar root out young plants, porcupine ring-bark saplings, and nilgai and deer browse foliage. A grower can do everything else right; plant good material, irrigate, prune, spray, and still lose a large share of the crop in the two weeks before harvest. The department's stated objective for the scheme is exactly this: rajsahayata for fencing orchards to protect them from wild animals.

How much subsidy does the scheme give?

According to the subsidy schedule published by the Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing at Chaubattia-Ranikhet, Almora:

The department's own norms record both figures, the older Rs 33,300 per hectare ceiling under the 50 per cent grant, and the note that the fencing construction grant has been increased to Rs 1.00 lakh per hectare. The increase matters because Rs 33,300 per hectare was never enough to fence a real orchard perimeter in hill terrain, where material has to be carried in and posts have to be set in rock. Growers should confirm the rate currently being applied in their district before finalising an estimate, since the district office works to the sanction order in force for that financial year.

Note that fencing cost does not scale neatly with area. A one-hectare square plot has a perimeter of about 400 metres; two hectares in the same shape has about 566 metres, not 800. Long, narrow hill terraces cost far more per hectare to fence than a compact block. The per-hectare grant is therefore a ceiling, not a promise, and the actual sanction follows the approved estimate.

Who is eligible for the orchard fencing subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You are a fruit grower resident in Uttarakhand with an existing orchard in the state.
• The orchard land is recorded in your name in the khasra or khatauni, or held under a registered lease.
• The orchard is exposed to wild animal damage, which the horticulture inspector can record on site.
• You have an Aadhaar number and a bank account in your own name capable of taking a DBT credit.

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

• You have no standing orchard. This scheme funds fencing of an existing orchard; bare land awaiting planting is not eligible under this head.
• The land is outside Uttarakhand.
• The plot has no recorded holder and no registered lease.
• You have already drawn fencing assistance for the same orchard and the same perimeter; a repeat claim on the same boundary is not admissible.
• You build the fence first and apply afterwards, so that no pre-sanction inspection and estimate exist on the file.
• The bank account offered is in someone else's name.

What documents are required?

The file needs a written application on the departmental format, the khasra / khatauni establishing the orchard area, your Aadhaar card, the first page of your bank passbook, and an estimate or quotation for fencing material. Photographs of animal damage help the inspector but are not the decisive record. The site report is.

How to apply for the Fencing of Old Orchards Scheme

1. Collect the application format from your District Horticulture Office, or download a departmental format from shm.uk.gov.in/application-formats/.
2. Write the application stating the orchard area in hectares, the fruit crop, the age of the orchard, the approximate perimeter to be fenced and the nature of the animal problem.
3. Attach the papers, land record, Aadhaar, bank passbook page and the fencing estimate.
4. Submit the file at the District Horticulture Office to the District Horticulture Officer or Chief Horticulture Officer, and take a dated acknowledgement.
5. Allow the pre-sanction inspection. A horticulture inspector measures the orchard and the perimeter, verifies the animal damage and approves the fencing specification and estimate.
6. Receive the sanction against the district's annual target. The sanction letter names the approved area, the fencing type and the payable amount.
7. Build the fence to the approved specification, keeping every bill and payment receipt.
8. Get the completion inspection done and submit the bills. The 50 per cent share is then credited to your Aadhaar-seeded account under DBT scheme code 2401001191400.

How to check the status of your application

There is no public online status tracker for this state-sector scheme. Quote your acknowledgement number and date at the District Horticulture Office and ask whether the file is at inspection, sanction, or post-completion payment stage. If sanction has issued and the credit has not arrived, ask the office to pull the DBT failure reason — an unseeded Aadhaar or a closed account is the usual cause, and it is fixed at the bank, not at the horticulture office.

Why orchard fencing applications get rejected or delayed

• Fence built before sanction, so no pre-sanction estimate and inspection exist and the file cannot be settled.
• No recorded holding for the orchard land, and no registered lease.
• Estimate not approved in advance, leading to a mismatch between what was spent and what is payable.
• Area or perimeter over-claimed relative to the inspector's measurement.
• District annual target exhausted for the financial year, ask for the file to be carried forward rather than refiled.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, so the DBT credit fails.
• No bills for the fencing material and labour at settlement.

Related protection and orchard schemes

• Anti-hail net under the Horticulture Mission to 50 per cent or a maximum of Rs 17.50 per square metre, up to 5,000 square metres, for protecting fruit and vegetable crops from hail.
• Rejuvenation of old orchards to 50 per cent or Rs 20,000 per hectare, up to 2 hectares, for bringing unproductive old orchards back into bearing. This pairs naturally with fencing, since there is little point rejuvenating an orchard that animals will strip.
• Fruit crop insurance, the department's weather-based insurance for apple, mango, peach, malta, litchi, tomato, ginger, potato, French bean and chilli, in which the farmer pays 5 per cent of the premium and the balance is shared 50:50 between the central and state governments.
• Market intervention for procurement of C-grade apple, pear, malta and galgal from growers at support prices, run on a no-profit-no-loss basis.

Who to contact for help

• Director, Horticulture and Food Processing to 05966-222792, Udyan Bhawan, Chaubattia-Ranikhet, Almora.
• State Horticulture Mission, Government Garden, Circuit House, Dehradun

• Joint Director, Garhwal Region, Pauri to 01368-222227.
• Joint Director, Kumaon Region, Nainital to 05942-221288.
• District Horticulture Officer of your own district; the full district-wise list is published under "Who's Who" on shm.uk.gov.in.

Applying is free. The subsidy is credited only to the beneficiary's own Aadhaar-seeded bank account, and no agent is authorised to charge a fee for getting a fencing file sanctioned.