Haryana to develop 340 villages as 'Horticulture village'

The Haryana government today said it will develop 340 villages as 'Horticulture Villages' divided into 140 clusters, at a project cost of Rs 510 crore.
The work to constitute these clusters has already begun and the pilot projects would begin by the end of this year.
This was disclosed by Abhilaksh Likhi, Haryana principal secretary, Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Department, who visited Haryana Agro-Industries Corporation (HAIC) Agro- Research and Development Centre in Murthal today.
He said these clusters would be developed on such places where farmers are more inclined towards a related crop or where there is possibility of any particular crop.

This includes mushroom, tomato, kinnow, honey, horticulture and others.
He said that farmers coming in these clusters would be provided loan from banks for the purchase of crops and along with all facilities of central processing unit.

Likhi inspected HAIC Mushroom Center in Murthal and also interacted with farmers and asked about their problems.
He said that more than 2,000 farmers are linked with mushroom cultivation in the state and 700 farmers are doing mushroom cultivation on large scale alone in Sonipat.
Likhi said that Sonipat district is ranked number one in mushroom production in the country.
He urged the farmers that fruit and vegetable cultivation, mushroom cultivation and bee-keeping have immense potential.

The Department of Horticulture will make intensive efforts to make farmers in the state aware about its policies, programmes, projects and available subsidy schemes, he added.