Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram

What is the Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram?

The Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram. The "Local Crop Promotion Programme"; is an initiative of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Uttarakhand, to revive and expand the cultivation of the state's indigenous crops. According to the department, the programme encourages farmers to grow local pulse varieties and traditional hill crops, supplies them with quality seed, and works to ensure they receive a fair price for what they harvest.

Uttarakhand's hill agriculture has long depended on hardy traditional crops: finger millet (mandua/ragi), barnyard millet (jhangora), amaranth (chaulai) and a range of local pulses. These crops need little irrigation, suit the terraced hill terrain, and carry high nutritional value. Over the years, as young people migrated and farming shifted, cultivation of these crops declined. The Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram is the state's response: it treats these local crops as worth protecting, both for farmers' incomes and for food and nutrition security.

The programme runs alongside the Uttarakhand Millet Mission (Pahadi Millet Mission), which the state cabinet approved in 2023 for the period 2023-24 to 2027-28, and the two efforts reinforce each other. Together they cover conservation of local crop varieties, distribution of verified seed, incentives for cultivation, and procurement of the harvest at a state support price. Under the mission's first phase, the state has planned millet cultivation across around 30,000 hectares spread over 24 development blocks.

What support does the programme give?

The Local Crop Promotion Programme works on several fronts, according to the Uttarakhand Department of Agriculture and the state's millet policy:

• Quality seed of indigenous varieties, farmers are supplied with verified seed of local pulses and hill millets, with the state moving to give a seed subsidy of up to 80 percent so traditional crops can be grown reliably.
• A state support price for millets: Uttarakhand procures mandua (finger millet) from hill farmers. The state set the support price at Rs 3,500 per quintal for mandua under the 2024-25 arrangement, giving growers a floor price they can count on before they sow.
• Incentives for women's self-help groups; SHGs that collect and aggregate mandua from farmers receive an incentive of Rs 1.50 per kilogram procured, which pulls the harvest towards organised, transparent buying rather than distress sale to traders.

Related state measures include setting up processing units at the block and cluster level so that value is added within the state, and linking hill millets to institutional buyers such as the mid-day-meal and anganwadi supply chains. Exact rates and the list of procured crops are notified each year, so confirm the current figure with your block agriculture office before you sell.

Who is eligible for the Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram?

You can benefit if:

• You are a farmer in Uttarakhand cultivating, or willing to cultivate, indigenous local crops such as local pulses or hill millets.
• You have land records for the plot on which the crop will be grown.
• You register with your block or district agriculture office before the sowing season.

The programme is aimed especially at hill farmers in districts such as Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pauri, Tehri, Almora and Pithoragarh, where these traditional crops are grown, and it also supports women's self-help groups engaged in collecting and processing local crops.

Who cannot apply: farmers who do not grow the promoted indigenous crops are not eligible for seed support or the mandua support price under this programme, since the support is tied to cultivating the specific local crops it aims to revive. Farmers outside Uttarakhand cannot apply, and land that has no verifiable record in the farmer's name cannot be enrolled. Exact eligibility for any cash incentive or procurement depends on the annual district plan.

How to apply for the Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram

The programme is delivered through the state agriculture machinery, so the route is offline and local. Follow these steps:

1. Visit your block or district agriculture office before the sowing season and ask to be registered under the Local Crop Promotion Programme or the Millet Mission for your crop.
2. Provide your Aadhaar, land record and bank account details so you can be enrolled and any incentive or support payment can reach you by direct benefit transfer.
3. Collect the quality seed of the local variety distributed through the department for the season, availing the seed subsidy where offered.
4. Grow the crop and, at harvest, use the procurement channel notified by the department: or sell through your women's self-help group: to get the notified support price.
5. Keep your procurement receipt or acknowledgement so any support payment credited by DBT can be tracked and reconciled.

Your local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and agriculture supervisor can also guide you on which local varieties suit your area and how to access seed.

How to check your enrolment and payment status

Because enrolment is handled at the block level, there is no separate statewide online tracker for the Local Crop Promotion Programme. Follow up in person with the block agriculture office that registered you, quoting your name and land details, to confirm you are on the season's seed-distribution and procurement list. Any support price or SHG incentive paid by DBT can be checked through your bank passbook or account statement; if a credited amount does not appear, take your procurement receipt back to the block office. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra and the district agriculture office are the next escalation points.

Why an enrolment or payment can be rejected, and how to fix it

• Land record not in your name; get the khasra/khatauni corrected through the revenue office before enrolling.
• Bank account not seeded for DBT — link and verify your account so any support price or incentive can be credited.
• Enrolling after the sowing window, register before the season, since seed is distributed against the block list.
• Selling outside the notified procurement channel: sell through the department's procurement points or your SHG to qualify for the support price.

Why does the programme matter?

The Sthaniya Fasal Protsahan Karyakram addresses a real problem in Uttarakhand's hills: traditional, climate-suited crops were being abandoned because they were seen as low-value and hard to sell. By combining quality seed, incentives and assured procurement at a minimum support price, the state gives farmers a reason to keep growing mandua, jhangora, chaulai and local pulses. This supports hill livelihoods, keeps terraced land under cultivation, and strengthens nutrition, since these millets and pulses are richer in fibre, protein and minerals than fine cereals.

Common questions and problems

• "What price will I get?": Minimum support prices for mandua, jhangora and chaulai are notified each year and can change; confirm the current rate with your block agriculture office before you sell.
• "Where do I sell my millet?": through the procurement points notified by the department each season; the block office can tell you the nearest one.
• "Is this different from the millet mission?", the two overlap and work together; enrolling once at the block office covers you for local crop support.

Where do I get help?

• Block and district agriculture offices. The working contact points for seed distribution, enrolment and procurement.
• Department of Agriculture, Uttarakhand; agriculture.uk.gov.in for the department's schemes and district office details.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), for advice on local varieties and cultivation practices.
• Uttarakhand CM Helpline 1905, for grievances not resolved at the block or district agriculture office.

Because the exact incentive amounts and procurement rates are set district by district and revised each year, always confirm the current figures with your block agriculture office rather than relying on older notices.