Date:24/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/24/stories/2008012450720200.htm

Andhra Pradesh

800 ha added under Horticulture Mission

Staff Reporter

7.5 p.c. subsidy given for mango, pomegranate, orange and 50 p.c. for other crops

Sangareddy: The State Horticulture Mission being implemented in the district from last year has achieved expansion of horticulture to 800 hectares out of the targeted area of 950 hectares. The project envisages additional acreage in fruit crops, particularly the mango, pomegranate, sweet orange, banana and papaya. Under the mission, farmers can avail of input subsidy of 75 per cent in case of mango, pomegranate and orange. For the remaining crops the subsidy is limited to 50 per cent. Farmers can also receive subsidy of from the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) to purchase sprinklers and drip irrigation systems.

Lack of enthusiasm

Even though the district has achieved additional acreage, which is one of the main aims of the mission, the Rs. 9-crore project is being still underutilised by the farmers in the district. So far, only Rs. 3 crore has been spent due to lack of strong proposals from the farmers.

The project that depends entirely on the entrepreneurial ability of horticulturists, offers new business avenues like cold storages, packing houses, vermicompost units, green houses, nurseries and disease forecast units. For instance, there were no takers for the Rs. 2-crore cold storage proposal from the Horticultural Department. Interested can avail of a subsidy of Rs. 5 lakh and assured bank loan for the remaining part. Similarly, there are only 15 proposals for setting up packaging units out of the targeted 22 units. A subsidy of Rs. 62,000 is offered on every unit out of the total project cost of Rs 2.5 lakh.

Speaking to The Hindu, Assistant Director, Horticulture, O. Laxman Rao, said that the department had distributed Rs. 35 lakh worth hybrid vegetable seed in the district during the last year to encourage cultivation of vegetables crops in the neighboring districts of Hyderabad and Secunderabad particularly the Jinnaram, Gajwel, Mulugu and Narsapur mandals.

He also said that 80 hectares of flower gardens had been added to the existing acreage under the mission.

He encouraged unemployed youth to set up nursery and organic pesticide manufacturing units with the help of the subsidy.