NATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON HORTICULTURE
A two-day conference
on horticulture is being organized here from tomorrow to review
the progress of several central horticultural schemes and take
stock of the development in this sector. Participants in the conference,
which is organized by the Central Department of Agricultural Cooperation,
includes representatives of Central Agriculture Research Institutes,
State Agricultural Universities and officials from Central and
State Governments as well as progressive farmers.
The horticulture
sector, over the years, has emerged as economically rewarding
and a viable option in diversification of agriculture. It has
demonstrated its importance as a major contributor in improving
productivity of land, generating employment, improving the economic
conditions of farmers and entrepreneurs, enhancing exports, and
above all, providing nutritional security to the people. Horticulture
production has increased by more than three million tonnes from
149.2 million tonnes in 1999-2000 to 152.5 million tonnes in 2000-01.
The shift in the dietary patterns has been one of the reasons
for rapid development of the horticulture sector. In economic
terms, the horticulture sector contributes about 24.5% GDP of
agriculture from less than 8.5% of the cultivated area.
While the horticulture
production has been growing significantly by about 6% over the
past decade, the efforts for marketing the produce has been very
slow. However, some initiatives have been taken during the Ninth
Plan. There has been an overwhelming response to avail the scheme
of National Horticulture Board on post harvest management including
Capital Subsidy Scheme on Cold Storages. The launching of the
website AGMARKNET by the Directorate of Marketing is yet another
step in the direction for making available information about the
arrivals and prices of important commodities in various markets.
With a view to introduce
the concepts of hi-tech horticulture, a new scheme on High-Tech
Horticulture & Precision Farming has been included in the
Tenth Plan. The scheme is expected to promote all aspects of hi-tech
horticulture covering technology dissemination as well as application
in the farmers’ field.
