WHY IN NEWS? The BJP-led government has come up with a new platform to disburse subsidies to horticulture farmers under the Cluster Development Programme (CDP) — the Centre’s initiative to promote horticulture crops. The platform is known as CDP-SURAKSHA. AIM OF THIS PLATFORM: The move seeks to push the growth of India’s horticulture sector, which contributes nearly one-third to the agriculture gross value addition (GVA), making a substantial contribution to the Indian economy. The total production of horticulture crops has also spiked in recent years. While in 2010-11, it stood at 240.53 million tonnes, the number rose to 334.60 million tonnes in 2020-21. WHAT IS CDP SURAKSHA? The CDP-SURAKSHA is essentially a digital platform. SURAKSHA stands for “System for Unified Resource Allocation, Knowledge, and Secure Horticulture Assistance.” The platform will allow an instant disbursal of subsidies to farmers in their bank account by utilising the e-RUPI voucher from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). FEATURES OF CDP-SURAKSHA: The CDP-SURAKSHA has features such as database integration with PM-KISAN, cloud-based server space from NIC, UIDAI validation, eRUPI integration, local government directory (LGD), content management system, geotagging, and geo-fencing.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

  • The platform allows access to farmers, vendors, implementing agencies (IA), and cluster development agencies (CDAs), and officials of the National Horticulture Board (NHB).
  • A farmer can login using their mobile number and place an order for planting material such as seeds, seedlings, and plants based on their requirement.
  • Once the demand has been raised by the farmer, the system will ask them to contribute their share of the cost of planting material. The subsidy amount paid by the government will appear on the screen automatically.
  • After the farmer pays their contribution, an e-RUPI voucher will be generated. This voucher will then be received by a vendor, who will provide the required planting material to the farmer.
  • Once the ordered planting material is delivered to the farmer, they have to verify the delivery through geo-tagged photos and videos of their field.
  • It is only after the verification that the IA will release the money to the vendor for the e-RUPI voucher.
  • The vendor will be required to upload an invoice of the payment on the portal.
  • The IA will collect all the documents and share them with the CDA for subsidy release, then only the subsidy will be released to the IA.
However, the farmer, who raised the demand for the plant material using the platform, can avail of the subsidy at the first stage only. WHAT IS E RUPI? The CDP-SURAKSHA platform uses e-RUPI vouchers from the NPCI. The voucher is a one-time payment mechanism that can be redeemed without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the merchants accepting e-RUPI. According to the NPCI, the e-RUPI can be shared with the beneficiaries for a specific purpose or activity by organisations or government via SMS or QR code. HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE OLD SYSTEM? In the old system, a farmer had to buy planting materials on their own. They would then have to approach the officials concerned for the release of the subsidy. The CDP-SURAKSHA platform, however, will provide subsidies to farmers upfront, at the time of purchasing the planting material. Vendors, who will supply planting materials to farmers, will receive their payment only after farmers verify the delivery of their orders.

WHAT IS A CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM?

The CDP is a component of the central sector scheme of NHB. It is aimed at leveraging “the geographical specialisation of horticulture clusters and promoting integrated and market-led development of pre-production, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding, and marketing activities.” So far, 55 horticulture clusters have been identified, out of which 12 have been selected for the pilot. these clusters are in different stages of development. Four more clusters — a floriculture cluster in West Bengal, coconut clusters in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and white onion clusters in Gujarat — are also in the pipeline. Each cluster will have an implementing agency and a cluster development agency (CDA). HOW MUCH AREA IS COVERED UNDER CDP? According to the government, about 9 lakh hectares of area will be covered through all 55 clusters, covering 10 lakh farmers. It is estimated that the initiative will attract private investment of rs 8,250 crore, in addition to the government’s assistance, which is fixed according to the size of the cluster —
  • Up to Rs 25 crore for mini cluster (size up to 5,000 ha),
  • Up to Rs 50 crore for medium clusters (5,000 to 15,000), and
  • Rp to Rs 100 crore for mega clusters (more than 15,000 ha).