The Chief Minister's Office of Gujarat announced on Wednesday, 27 May 2026 that the state cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, has approved farmer-friendly amendments to the Barbed Wire Fencing Scheme (Kantali Taarni Vad ni Yojana), raising per-metre subsidy rates and lowering the minimum land cluster requirement to benefit small and marginal farmers across the state.

Context

Under the revised scheme, farmers will now receive financial assistance of ₹300 per running metre or 50% of actual cost, whichever is lower. Previously, the ceiling was ₹200 per running metre or 50% of cost — a rate the government acknowledged had become inadequate given rising market prices for materials and increased labour costs.

The cabinet also reduced the mandatory land cluster threshold from two hectares to one hectare. The earlier two-hectare requirement meant that if even one farmer in a group opted out, smaller landholders lost eligibility entirely — a structural gap the revised rules now address.

Policy Backdrop

The Barbed Wire Fencing Scheme is part of Gujarat's broader effort to protect agricultural output from damage caused by livestock and wildlife — a persistent challenge in a state where farming communities border forest and grazing zones. Applications under the scheme are processed through the i-Khedut Portal, Gujarat's centralised online platform for agricultural subsidies.

Approximately one lakh farmer applications have already been received on the portal under this scheme. The state government has earmarked ₹240 crore for phased, rule-compliant approval of these applications — with the explicit goal of completing the process before the onset of the monsoon, so farmers have fencing in place before the main cropping season begins.

Gujarat has periodically recalibrated subsidy ceilings across agricultural welfare programmes to keep pace with input-cost inflation, and the fencing scheme revision follows that pattern. Similar crop-protection fencing initiatives exist in other Indian states facing human-wildlife conflict, though eligibility and subsidy structures vary.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries are small and marginal farmers who previously fell outside the two-hectare cluster norm. By halving the threshold, the government expands the scheme's reach to landholders with smaller plots, who are disproportionately vulnerable to crop losses from straying animals.

The higher per-metre subsidy directly reduces the out-of-pocket cost of fencing installation at a time when construction material and wage costs have risen. For a farmer fencing a modest plot, the increase from ₹200 to ₹300 per running metre can translate into meaningful savings on total project cost.

What's Next

The government has committed to opening the i-Khedut Portal a second time this year if demand exceeds the current application window — a departure from the previous practice of a single annual opening. Officials have also indicated that if the ₹240 crore allocation proves insufficient, supplementary funds will be arranged to ensure no eligible application goes unprocessed.

The pre-monsoon processing deadline and the possibility of a second portal window signal that the administration is treating farmer access to this scheme as a near-term operational priority. How swiftly the district-level approval machinery processes the one-lakh pending applications will determine whether the revised rules translate into on-ground impact before the kharif season begins.