Details about Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) – A Boost to Organic Farming
Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER: The Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER) is a central government initiative by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare to promote organic farming in the North Eastern states of India. The scheme covers Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.
Key Objectives:
- Organic Value Chain Development:
- Create certified organic production clusters, providing farmers with the necessary resources, including inputs, seeds, and certification.
- The scheme also focuses on building facilities for processing, marketing, and brand development.
- Farmer Empowerment:
- Organize farmers into Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs), aiming to federate them into Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).
- This ensures that producers have ownership of the program and benefit directly from organic farming.
- Sustainable Agriculture:
- Transition from conventional farming to high-value, sustainable organic farming using local resources.
- Market Access:
- Develop organic products from the North Eastern Region into recognized brands, facilitating better market access.
- Infrastructure Development:
- Establish organic parks/zones with facilities for collection, processing, storage, and marketing, focusing on capital-intensive technologies.
Strategies:
- Capacity Building: Train farmers on organic farming practices, and provide certification services, ensuring they have the knowledge and resources needed for success.
- Enterprise Development: Support the creation of local enterprises and Farmer Producer Companies to manage post-harvest processes and market organic products.
- Agency Support: Establish lead agencies at central and state levels to coordinate, monitor, and finance the value chain development.
Implementation:
The scheme will be implemented in a mission mode with a structured approach at both national and state levels. National committees will guide the mission, while state-level agencies will execute the program under the supervision of the respective Departments of Agriculture or Horticulture.
This initiative is a significant step towards making the North Eastern Region a hub for organic agriculture, benefiting both farmers and consumers alike.
Benefits of Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER
- Crop-Specific Organic Production Clusters
- Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER focuses on developing crop-specific organic production clusters to streamline training, certification, and the aggregation of produce.
- These clusters bring farmers together in Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs) at the village level, which are then federated into Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) or companies at the district or state level.
- This approach ensures that farmers receive concentrated support and resources, making organic farming more efficient and profitable.
- Formation of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)
- The scheme encourages the formation of FPOs, which play a crucial role in helping farmers market their organic produce.
- States can enlist experienced resource agencies to assist in creating FPOs, particularly in areas where they do not yet exist.
- In regions with established FPOs, new organic clusters can be developed alongside existing ones, ensuring that more farmers benefit without the need to create new organizations, thus reducing costs.
- On-Farm and Off-Farm Input Assistance
- Registered farmers in the scheme receive support for creating on-farm input production units, such as liquid manure tanks and compost facilities.
- The scheme offers financial assistance up to ₹7,500 per farmer (for up to 2 hectares) for this purpose.
- Additionally, farmers are provided with a one-time grant of ₹3,750 per hectare for purchasing off-farm inputs like biofertilizers and biopesticides, ensuring they have the necessary resources to maintain high-quality organic farming practices.
- Support for Quality Seeds and Planting Material
- To guarantee the quality and uniformity of crops, the scheme provides farmers with financial assistance for purchasing high-quality seeds and planting materials.
- This assistance covers 50% of the actual cost, up to ₹17,500 per hectare.
- States are encouraged to develop comprehensive plans for the timely supply of these materials to farmers, ensuring that they have the best possible start each growing season.
- Extension Services, Training, and Certification Support
- The scheme also supports the establishment of input delivery centers and agri-machinery custom hiring centers at the cluster or FPO level, with a budget of ₹10 lakh per FPO.
- Farmers receive training, hand-holding support, and assistance with Internal Control System (ICS) management, documentation, and organic certification.
- A budget of ₹10,000 per hectare over three years is allocated for these services, ensuring farmers have continuous support throughout the production process.
- Integrated Service Providers
- MOVCDNER recommends that a single service provider handle FPO formation, ICS management, documentation, and certification to ensure better coordination and results.
- These agencies are encouraged to hire personnel from among the participating farmers, ensuring that knowledge and skills remain within the community even after the service providers exit.
This comprehensive support helps farmers in the North Eastern Region transition to organic farming, ensuring they have access to markets and the necessary resources to succeed.
What is the eligibility criteria for Financial Assistance under Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER?
A. Value Chain Post Harvest
Eligibility for Financial Assistance:
- FPCs/FIGs/FPOs Requirements: To qualify for financial assistance, Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs), Farmer Interest Groups (FIGs), and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) must have a minimum contiguous area of 400 hectares under organic cultivation or organic conversion.
- Location Criteria: The marketing infrastructure (like NE Organic Bazaar) must be within a 25 km radius of the clusters developed and registered under the MOVCDNER scheme.
- Financial Assistance: Eligible FPCs/FIGs/FPOs can receive financial assistance covering up to 75% of the total financial outlay (TFO), with a maximum limit of ₹11.25 lakh per unit, whichever is less.
B. Value Chain Processing
Eligibility for Financial Assistance:
- Integrated Processing Units: These units should be linked to areas already under organic certification or proposed for organic conversion, ensuring the availability of raw materials from nearby grower groups.
- Entrepreneurial Drive: The projects should be entrepreneur-driven, with support provided as a credit-linked subsidy.
- Membership Requirement: FPCs/FPOs/FIGs registered under relevant acts, with at least 250-500 members, are eligible for assistance.
- Financial Assistance for FPCs/FPOs/FIGs: These groups can receive up to 75% of the TFO or ₹600 lakh, whichever is less. They can avail of the subsidy without a credit link if they meet their share of the project cost and conduct all transactions through banks.
- Private Entrepreneurs: Eligible for 50% of the TFO or ₹600 lakh, whichever is less, provided as a credit-linked subsidy.
- Feasibility and Viability: States must ensure the unit’s feasibility, economic viability, and that the technology used meets market standards before approval.
C. Integrated Pack House
Eligibility for Financial Assistance:
- Pack House Setup: This component, part of the collection, aggregation, and grading units, should be designed to meet the requirements of the targeted commodities, ensuring accessibility to handling and processing units with market linkages.
- Entrepreneurial Focus: This component should also be entrepreneur-driven.
- Financial Assistance for FPCs/FPOs/FIGs: These groups are eligible for up to 75% of the TFO or ₹37.50 lakh, whichever is less. They may avail of the subsidy without a credit link, provided they meet their share of the project cost.
- Private Entrepreneurs: Eligible for 50% of the TFO or ₹37.50 lakh, whichever is less, provided as a credit-linked subsidy.
D. Cold Chain Components
Eligibility for Financial Assistance:
- Transportation and Storage: Assistance is available for refrigerated transport vehicles, pre-cooling units, cold stores, and ripening chambers as part of the cold chain infrastructure.
- Specifications: The cold storage projects must adhere to the standards and protocols set by the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD).
- Financial Assistance for FPCs/FPOs/FIGs: These groups can receive up to 75% of the TFO or ₹18.75 lakh, whichever is less, for both refrigerated vehicles and cold storage facilities.
- Private Entrepreneurs: Eligible for 50% of the TFO or ₹18.75 lakh for each component, whichever is less, provided as a credit-linked subsidy.
These criteria ensure that only well-prepared and capable organizations and entrepreneurs receive support, driving the success of organic farming in the North Eastern Region.
How to apply for Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER?
Subsidy application procedure
- State Lead Agency (SLA) shall be responsible for selection of eligible participants/ beneficiaries in the scheme.
- The beneficiary selection process to be adopted by the SLA shall be transparent.
- Proposed unit which has already availed subsidy from any other State or Central Government Department/Agency shall not be considered eligible under the scheme.
- The eligible beneficiaries under MOVCDNER will fill up the subsidy proposal in the prescribed format and submit it to respective State Lead Agency (SLA) designated for each state.
Sanction & disbursement procedure of subsidy
- Once the identification and selection of beneficiary is completed, SLA with their recommendation will forward the subsidy proposal to NEDFi for subsidy processing.
- NEDFi will scrutinize the subsidy proposal based on the criteria set under MOVCDNER and communicate to the Commercial Bank/ Financial Institution where the eligible beneficiary has applied for a term loan component.
- After sanctioning the term loan of the proposed unit by the Commercial Bank/ Financial Institution, both the loan and subsidy proposal will be placed before Subsidy Sanctioning Committee for final approval of the subsidy component.
- The Subsidy Sanctioning Committee is comprised of representatives from NEDFi, IIFPT and SLA of the respective state.
- A joint pre-sanction site inspection will be done by the Subsidy Sanctioning Committee.
- Based on the assessment of the physical progress/status of the project, the subsidy amount will be sanctioned and released on a pro-rata basis depending on the utilization of the beneficiary contributions.
- The subsidy is expected to be released in three (3) installments. Apart from pre sanction site inspection for a subsidy, NEDFi and other members of the Subsidy Sanctioning Committee will mandatory visit to the project sites before the disbursement of each subsidy installment or as and when required.
- The payment for plant & machinery and other major vendors will be made directly by NEDFi subject to maximum funds sanctioned against the individual unit to cover such costs.
What are the documents required to apply for Krishi Unnati Yojana – MOVCDNER?
Check List of Documents to be submitted along with Subsidy claim
- Document No A-1
- Forwarding letter of the beneficiary. The complete address of the beneficiary with telephone/ fax numbers / email.
- Document No A-2
- Copy of project report (DPR) with item-wise details of costs, total outlay, loan and margin submitted by the promoter.
- Document No A-3
- Copy of the approved plan/ map and civil drawings clearly indicating the dimensions and capacity of the infrastructure project.
- Document No A-4
- Invoices for purchase of machinery/equipment, if any.
- Document No A-5
- Copy of land documents where the project is going to be established.
- Document No A-6
- Notarized Affidavit in Original executed by the promoter on a non-judicial stamp paper as suggested by State Lead Agency (SLA).
- Document No A-7
- Copy of duly registered partnership deed, if it is a partnership firm, Memorandum& Articles of Association and certificate of incorporation, in case of Private Limited Company etc.
- In case of FPC: registration certificate as per Producer Company under Section 581(C) of Indian Companies Act, 1956, as amended in 2013.
- In case of FPO: Cooperative Societies Act/ Autonomous or Mutually Aided Cooperative Societies Act of the respective State.
- In case of FIG: Recommendation from SLA.