Haryana focuses on boosting its vegetable production

The Haryana government is implementing vegetable initiative for urban clusters in Gurgaon and 11 districts near this city to increase vegetable production with a focus on vegetable production and marketing of produce through farmers’ groups.

“The government has allocated over Rs 12.19 crore for implementation of vegetable initiative for urban clusters under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna during 2011-12. It would set in motion a virtuous cycle of production and income for the farmers and assure supply to consumers,” said a spokesman of Haryana horticulture department.

The districts to be covered under the scheme in the first phase include Gurgaon, Mewat, Rewari, Palwal, Faridabad, Jhajjar, Sonepat, Panipat, Rohtak, Karnal and Kurukshetra. In the second phase, some more districts would be taken up to increase the gamut of this scheme.

The main activities to be taken up under the scheme include formation of farmers’ groups, providing assistance for growing vegetable of hybrid and open pollinated crops in open as well as under poly houses and assistance for all the inputs through these farmers’ groups or associations.

Groups of farmers having 15-20 members would be formed in a cluster and in total 250 groups are proposed to be formed. Two vegetable seedling productions centres — one at Rohtak and other at Gurgaon are being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2.08 crore to supply good and disease-free hybrid vegetable seedlings to the farmers with 50 per cent assistance.

Similarly, there is a provision of over Rs 2.36 crore for subsidy to be given on construction of poly green house at a rate of 65 per cent up to a maximum of 4,000 square meters to each farmer.

The Department has already invited farmers to form group and around 130 farmers groups have shown interest. This scheme would given boost to the vegetable sector in the State and also help farmers to have better sale realisation through direct marketing of their produce.