Horticulture Cluster Development Programme | 01 Dec 2022

Why in News?

Recently, a meeting was held by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP).

• Overall development of horticulture in the country would be focused with the help of the implementation of the CDP.
• Horticulture is the branch of plant agriculture dealing with garden crops, generally fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants.

What is the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme?

• About:
  • It is a central sector programme aimed at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
  • Horticulture cluster is a regional/geographical concentration of targeted horticulture crops.
• Implementation:
  • It is implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
  • The states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand etc. will also be included in the list of 55 clusters, identified with their focus/main crops.
    • Earlier, in pilot phase, it was implemented in 12 clusters covering 11 States/UTs.
• Objectives:
  • The CDP aims to improve exports of targeted crops by about 20% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops.
  • To address all major issues related to the Indian horticulture sector including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding.
  • To leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters.
  • To converge with other initiatives of the Government such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
  • A lot of investment will also come in the horticulture sector through CDP.
• Significance:
  • Cluster Development Programme has a great potential to transform the entire horticulture ecosystem by creating last-mile connectivity with the use of multimodal transport for efficient and timely evacuation and transportation of horticulture produce.

What is the Status of the Horticulture Sector in India?

• Status:
  • India is the second-largest producer of horticulture crops globally.
    • India is a leader in producing fruits like Mango, Banana, Pomegranate, Sapota, Acid Lime and Aonla.
  • In 2021-22, Uttar Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal were the top states in horticulture production.
    • West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh were the top States in vegetable production.
    • Maharashtra followed by Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the top states in fruit production.
  • The area under horticulture crops increased to 27.74 million hectares in 2021-22, and produced around 341.63 million tonnes.
• Initiatives for Horticulture:
  • Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture:
    • MIDH is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables and other areas.
    • Under MIDH, Government of India contributes 60% of the total outlay for developmental programmes in all the states (except North Eastern and Himalayan states where GOI contributes 90%) & 40% is contributed by State governments.
    • It has five major schemes on horticulture:
      • National Horticulture Mission (NHM)
      • Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH)
      • National Horticulture Board (NHB)
      • Coconut Development Board (CDB) &
      • Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH), Nagalan

Source: PIB