Matirkatha: WB Farm Portal for Soil Card and Subsidy

🌐How the Platform Reaches Farmers

Field-level extension workers called KPS (Krishi Prosar Sahayak), BTM (Block Technology Manager) and ATM (Assistant Technology Manager) use the Matirkatha app on their tablets to provide door-to-door advisory services in villages. This human-technology combination ensures that even illiterate or semi-literate farmers in remote areas of Purulia, Bankura and the Sundarbans can access scheme benefits and technical guidance.

The Matirkatha platform generates district-wise agricultural data that the state government uses for planning crop support interventions, forecasting input demand, calibrating subsidy allocation, and designing research priorities. The GPS-linked field data from KPS tablets forms a live agricultural census of farming conditions across West Bengal.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) financing through the Matirkatha portal helps farmer groups, FPOs and agri-enterprises access loans at subsidised interest rates for constructing farm-level infrastructure such as warehouses, cold storage, primary processing units, assaying units and sorting and grading lines. The AIF interest subvention is 3 percent per annum on loans up to Rs 2 crore.

📋Matirkatha: Services by Department

🧪The Soil Health Card Programme

The soil health card programme is one of Matirkatha's most impactful services, where soil samples from farmers' fields are geo-tagged via GPS, tested at government laboratories and the results uploaded back to the portal. West Bengal became the first state in India to implement 100 percent location authentication in the soil health card process, making every card traceable to the exact field it represents.

Each soil health card issued through Matirkatha contains a detailed nutrient profile of the farmer's field, including levels of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and micro-nutrients such as zinc, boron and sulphur. The card also carries a fertiliser recommendation customized to the specific soil conditions of that plot, which helps farmers reduce input costs by applying the right quantities.

The Matirkatha mobile app is available free on the Google Play Store in both Bengali and English. The app allows farmers to register, check their soil health card, apply for machinery subsidies, view crop advisories, check market prices, track application status and contact their nearest extension worker directly through the app.

♻️Soil Cards: Free and Renewed

Soil health cards are issued free to all registered farmers and renewed every two years to reflect changes in soil condition after each cropping cycle. Farmers can view and download their soil health card from the Matirkatha portal by logging in with their registered mobile number and Aadhaar details.

The crop calendar on Matirkatha gives location-specific recommendations for which crop to sow in which season based on the agro-climatic zone of the farmer's block. West Bengal has 6 agro-climatic zones and the crop calendar is customized for each zone, covering kharif, rabi and summer crops across paddy, jute, wheat, potato, mustard, vegetables and fruits.

Bangla Sahayata Kendras (BSKs), the state's network of single-window service delivery centres, support Matirkatha services at the local level. A BSK operator helps farmers with registration, document upload, scheme application, and status tracking for those who do not have smartphone access or are not comfortable with online processes.

🚜Farm Machinery Subsidy Explained

The farm mechanisation component of Matirkatha provides subsidies on a wide range of agricultural machines through two main schemes: the OTA-SFI scheme for small equipment (50 percent subsidy) and the FMB (Farm Mechanisation Bank) scheme for larger machines (50 to 80 percent subsidy). All subsidy payments are made via DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) to the farmer's registered bank account.

Small equipment covered under the 50 percent OTA-SFI subsidy includes battery-operated sprayers (up to Rs 1,900 subsidy), solar light traps (up to Rs 2,600), manual seed drills (up to Rs 1,250), manual chaff cutters (up to Rs 6,400), manual threshers (up to Rs 2,750), and PVC water-carrying pipes up to 100 metres (up to Rs 1,250). The farmer pays only 50 percent of the equipment's cost after the subsidy.

The subsidy allocation is done through a transparent lottery or first-come-first-served system depending on scheme rules, and the results are published on the Matirkatha portal. This beneficiary history system ensures that the same farmer does not receive a subsidy for the same equipment repeatedly, allowing wider distribution of public funds across more farmers.

⚙️Large Machines and Machinery Banks

Large and high-value farm machines under the FMB scheme attract subsidies of 50 to 80 percent, with subsidy amounts ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 1,60,000 per machine. Equipment covered includes Multi-crop Threshers, Paddy Threshers, Potato Diggers, Power Reapers, Laser Land Levellers, Power Tillers, Rotary Tillers, Rice Mills, Dal Mills, Oil Mills and Solar Pumpsets (AC 2 HP).

Farm Machinery Banks (FMBs) are a separate component where groups of farmers, FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations) or cooperative societies can set up a shared machinery pool and receive a group subsidy of up to Rs 8 lakh. This allows individual small farmers who cannot afford to buy a tractor or thresher to access mechanised farming through a shared hiring arrangement.

Horticulture farmers can access information on tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, brinjal, potato, mango, litchi and banana cultivation through the Matirkatha horticulture module. The portal also provides details on the state government's polyhouse subsidy, drip irrigation subsidy and information on NABARD-backed horticulture loan programmes.

📝How to Register and Apply

Farmer registration on Matirkatha requires a name, father or husband name, mobile number, Aadhaar number, address (block and district), and land details including field size and primary crop. OTP verification is done via the registered mobile number, and after registration the farmer receives a unique Matirkatha login ID.

Documents needed for registration include Aadhaar card or Voter ID for identity, a land-related document such as a record of rights (khatian), lease agreement or Krishak Bandhu passbook for land proof, and a bank passbook copy for DBT payments. The farmer must upload scanned copies or can use the assisted registration route at a Bangla Sahayata Kendra.

🔎Applying for Subsidy and Tracking

After registering, a farmer can apply for a machinery subsidy online by logging in, selecting the scheme (OTA-SFI or FMB), selecting the machine from the approved list, entering land details, and uploading documents. The application is reviewed by the Block Agriculture Officer and, if approved, the farmer is shortlisted for receiving the subsidy.

Application status for any scheme applied through Matirkatha can be tracked by logging in and going to the status section. The portal shows whether the application is pending review, shortlisted, approved, rejected or if the DBT payment has been processed to the bank account.

📈Advisory, Prices and Insurance

Pest and disease control advisory is available through Matirkatha in real time. Field extension workers update the portal with pest scouting observations from their block, and the system generates advisory messages that are pushed to registered farmers in that area via SMS and through the mobile app.

Market price information on Matirkatha is updated daily and covers rates from major mandis across West Bengal as well as procurement prices for key crops under government minimum support price (MSP) programmes. Farmers can compare local mandi rates with nearby market rates to decide where to sell their produce for the best price.

Matirkatha-te register kore soil health card pelam. Urvarak kam diye bhalo fasal pachchi. Ei portal-e machine subsidy-r jonyo apply kore power tiller peyechi, 50 percent dite hoyeche baki sarkar diyeche. Farming-e bujhte lageche technology-r mane.

🐄Livestock, Fisheries and Horticulture

Animal husbandry services on Matirkatha provide milk producers, poultry farmers and goat rearers with information on breed selection, vaccination schedules, disease symptoms and treatment, insurance schemes under the Livestock Insurance Programme, and how to apply for subsidies on shed construction and equipment.

Fisheries services include guidance on pond preparation, stocking density for different fish species, water quality management, disease control, and how to apply for subsidies on fishpond construction and aerators under state fisheries schemes. Fisherfolk in coastal areas of East Midnapore and South 24 Parganas get specific advisory on marine fishing and post-harvest management.

👩‍🌾Women Farmers and FPO Access

Women farmers in West Bengal are increasingly using Matirkatha services, particularly for accessing Krishak Bandhu documents, applying for farm machinery subsidies and checking market prices. Self-help group (SHG) members in the MGNREGS horticulture and kitchen garden programmes can use Matirkatha for technical guidance and input source location.

Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) registered in West Bengal can access Matirkatha services under their organization profile. FPOs can apply for Farm Machinery Bank grants of up to Rs 8 lakh, access bulk crop advisory for their member farmers, and apply for AIF loans for collective post-harvest infrastructure that benefits hundreds of small member farmers.

📑Matirkatha Quick Reference

❓Frequently Asked Questions