Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) Farm Mechanization Scheme

Why it matters

Access tractors and farm implements through a local Custom Hiring Centre instead of buying machinery you can't individually afford.

What you get

Kerala's Custom Hiring Centre (CHC) scheme establishes rural service-delivery units — run by entrepreneurs, progressive farmers, or Self-Help Groups — that provide farm machinery and implements for rent to farmers in their area, designed to extend mechanization access to small and marginal farmers and regions where individually-owned farm power is low. Each centre receives credit-linked back-ended subsidy of 40% of machinery cost (up to a maximum of ₹10 lakh) for purchasing implements to provide custom hiring services, with an additional 3% interest subvention available under the central Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme. The state's broader mechanization push also runs through Agro Service Centres and the Karshika Karma Sena, which provide trained agricultural technicians and implements at nominal cost.

Eligibility criteria

• Rural entrepreneur, progressive farmer, SHG or FPO wishing to set up a Custom Hiring Centre in Kerala
• For individual farmers seeking to USE a CHC: any farmer in the centre's service area
• CHC project must meet the department's minimum business viability and machinery-package criteria

How to apply

1. 1

   To set up a CHC: submit a project report (DPR) to the Department of Agriculture for subsidy approval

2. 2

   To use a CHC: contact the nearest centre or Krishi Bhavan to book machinery for your farm operation

3. 3

   Pay the nominal rental/service charge for machinery hire

Documents required

• Aadhaar card
• Project report/DPR (for setting up a CHC)
• Bank passbook
• Land/lease documents (for CHC premises)