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To promote horticulture in plains: HP launches ‘Trees for Wealth’ project
About 233 hectares of barren land in 17 gram panchayats will be converted into cultivable land under the project by spending ₹500 crore
DHARAMSHALA: In a bid to augment additional space for horticulture farming, Himachal Pradesh has launched an ambitious programme ‘Trees for Wealth’ to plant fruit trees in the barren land in the Shivalik range in Una District.
The drive launched under Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project (HPSHIVA) aims at making the Shivalik region a ‘fruit hub’ on the pattern of the high hills of Himachal Pradesh, said rural development minister Virender Kanwar.
About 233 hectares of barren land in 17 gram panchayats will be converted into cultivable land under the project by spending ₹500 crore.
This would also help double farmers’ income and utilize barren land for horticulture cultivation.
In the initial phase, nine front-line demonstration plots have been laid on 9-hectare areas in which 11,913 high-yielding fruit saplings of Guava, Pomegranate and Malta have been planted on barren land belonging to 81 farmers.
The farmers will be trained under HP SHIVA to produce and commercialise their horticulture crops through value addition, said Kanwar.
He said ₹77 crore will be spent for drip irrigations, solar water pumps, Scada and an instrumental cluster tank.
The Jal Shakti Department will execute five new irrigation schemes in the area, and two functional schemes will be augmented to meet the irrigation needs under the programme.
Around 1,200 farmers earn a livelihood from horticulture activities in the Shivalik region, with their annual income around ₹1 crore.
‘Trees for Wealth’ aims to generate around ₹5 crore in additional revenue through commercially important and indigenous fruit crop cultivation.
Kanwar said a total of 17 clusters have been formed in the mountainous areas to harness tremendous scope for cash-yielding fruit farming in fallow and unfertile lands. At present, fruit crops, mainly mango and citrus fruits, are cultivated in the area.
The new initiative aims to support 490 families with small land holdings from 90 villages. Around 5,555 fruit trees will be planted in the area under the project during the current financial year to expand the growth of the horticulture sector in the region.
For value addition, the minister said, provisions were being made for the development of infrastructures like packaging, sorting and grading houses, CA stores and processing units.
