Sub-Mission on Seeds and Planting Material

SMSP is a Government of India scheme under the Krishonnati Yojana umbrella that subsidises certified crop seeds for farmers and builds the infrastructure — seed processing plants, testing labs, storage, Seed Villages — needed to produce and deliver quality seeds across the country. The goal is to replace low-yielding farm-saved seed with certified, high-yielding varieties so that the same land produces more.

50 % subsidy on certified cereal seeds (wheat, paddy, maize) and 60 % on certified pulse, oilseed and fodder seeds — or the government price of 1 quintal of seed, whichever is lower. This applies for up to 1 acre per farmer per season. Under the Seed Village component, foundation and certified seeds of pulses, oilseeds, fodder and green-manure crops have been distributed at up to 75 % subsidised rates.

All categories of farmers — small, marginal, medium and large — are eligible. Priority goes to small and marginal farmers and to districts where the Seed Replacement Rate is low. The farmer must be in a block where the State has allocated SMSP targets for the current season and must buy through a designated government channel, not the open market.

There is no central online application. Contact your Rural Agricultural Extension Officer (RAEO) or the District Agriculture Officer before sowing season with your Aadhaar, B1 khasra (land record), bank passbook and mobile number. They will tell you which crops and varieties have subsidised seed available for your block and allot seed up to 1 acre.

Selected villages receive foundation seed, training in seed production, and the processing and storage infrastructure to produce certified seed locally. The idea is that a Seed Village becomes self-sufficient in quality seed for the next season, so neighbouring farmers do not have to travel long distances to a government depot. Farmers in a Seed Village grow the allotted seed crop under extension guidance and the resulting certified seed is distributed locally.

A seed minikit is a small packet of a new high-yielding, disease-resistant or climate-tolerant variety, distributed free to farmers for trial on a test plot. The government wants farmers to see the variety's performance before committing a full field to it. Minikits are distributed through Krishi Vigyan Kendras and State Agriculture Departments.

SRR is the percentage of total seed sown that is certified (as opposed to farm-saved seed from the previous harvest). Certified seed is genetically pure, disease-free and lab-tested for germination. India's cereal SRR is around 33 % and pulse/oilseed SRR around 25 % — meaning most farmers still sow their own saved seed, which degrades in quality over generations. SMSP aims to raise cereal SRR to 50 % and pulse/oilseed SRR to 40 %.

SMSP is a pan-India scheme, but implementation is through State Agriculture Departments, which decide district-level targets each season. Not every block in every State may have allocation in a given season. Check with your District Agriculture Office or RAEO before sowing.

A buffer stock of certified seeds maintained by the National Seeds Corporation and State Seed Corporations, ready for rapid deployment when floods, drought or pest outbreaks destroy standing crops and farmers need replanting material urgently — without having to wait for a fresh procurement cycle.

The SMSP subsidy is capped at 1 acre per farmer per season. You can still buy certified seed at full price from any authorised dealer for any additional area.

There is no single national SMSP helpline. For queries, contact your block-level Rural Agricultural Extension Officer (RAEO), the District Agriculture Officer, or your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra.