UP Opens Subsidised Farm Machinery Bookings: Apply Online by July 30

The Uttar Pradesh Agriculture Department has thrown open its online portal for subsidised agricultural machinery applications, with a booking period running from July 16 to July 30, 2026. Allocations will be made strictly on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning early movers stand the best chance of securing their preferred equipment.

Farmers must visit the official UP Agriculture Department portal to complete their application. The portal hosts all relevant information — eligible machinery categories, applicable subsidy rates, eligibility norms, and step-by-step application guidance. Given the short two-week window, the department is urging eligible farmers to register without delay.

Subsidies under this drive are channelled through two central-government-backed frameworks:

• SMAM (Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization): Covers a broad basket of equipment including Farm Machinery Banks, Custom Hiring Centres, agricultural drones, various farm implements, and crop protection machinery.
• CRM (Promotion of Agricultural Mechanization for In-Situ Management of Crop Residue): Specifically targets machinery designed to manage crop residue on-field rather than through burning — a priority for Uttar Pradesh given stubble-burning concerns.

The twin-scheme structure means the initiative addresses both general mechanisation goals and the more targeted challenge of sustainable post-harvest field management.

To filter out non-serious applicants and prevent speculative bookings, the Agriculture Department has made a refundable security deposit compulsory at the time of online application.

• Farmers applying for machinery where the subsidy falls between ₹10,001 and ₹1,00,000 must deposit ₹2,500.
• Those applying for machinery attracting a subsidy exceeding ₹1,00,000 must deposit ₹5,000.

The deposit will be refunded in accordance with scheme guidelines once the process is completed. This mechanism is designed to align applicant intent with actual procurement, reducing the risk of allocated slots being left unused.

The department has put in place a one-booking-token-per-mobile-number rule to prevent duplicate applications from the same farmer. Each mobile number can generate only a single token during the booking window.

However, recognising that not every farmer may have an active registered number, the department has provided a practical exemption: applicants may use mobile numbers belonging to immediate blood relatives — parents, siblings, sons, or daughters — to complete their booking if needed. This flexibility is intended to ensure genuine farmers with legitimate needs are not locked out on a technicality while still safeguarding the integrity of the allocation process.

The UP Agriculture Department frames this initiative as part of a broader state-level drive to expand access to modern agricultural equipment, improve on-farm efficiency, and reduce the environmental burden of crop residue burning.

The inclusion of agricultural drones is particularly notable — reflecting the national momentum around drone-based farm services for spraying and monitoring. Custom Hiring Centres and Farm Machinery Banks, meanwhile, serve as shared-access models that allow multiple smallholder farmers to benefit from expensive machinery without individual ownership costs.

For agri-entrepreneurs and farmer-producer organisations, the CHC and FMB categories under SMAM also represent a potential income-generating service model worth exploring before the July 30 deadline closes.