Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Oct 08, 2003 |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Horticulture/Fruits & Vegetables TN plans horticulture development agency — Crop specific missions on anvil Our Bureau
Chennai , Oct. 7 THE Tamil Nadu Government plans to set up a horticulture development agency to channelise the Central assistance and external funding to horticulture, according to sources. The move is in line with the Centre's decision to direct funding assistance under the newly-launched national horticulture mission and precision farming projects through nodal agencies rather than departments to ensure implementation of the programmes. The State Government plans to create the horticulture development agency under the chairmanship of the Agriculture Secretary with the Director Horticulture as its managing director, sources said. Also on the anvil are crop specific development missions such as the mango development mission, and other missions each for banana, cashew, vegetables, floriculture and medicinal plants. Steps will also be taken to implement policies that have been announced relating to commercial floriculture and contract farming. The Government also proposes to converge various schemes for the horticulture development. These include the micro-irrigation project being implemented by the Agricultural Engineering Department and the 50-hectare demonstration plots that are available with this department will be utilised to demonstrate horticulture technology, sources said. Centrally-sponsored schemes for development of mango and cashew will be dovetailed with the comprehensive wasteland programme. The Tamil Nadu Horticulture Development Agency is envisaged as a part of the Tamil Nadu Horticulture Development Mission that includes three components — technology generation and research, transfer of technology and development, and post-harvest management and market linkages. Addressing a conference on a road map for agriculture here on Tuesday, the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Secretary, Mr T.S. Sridhar, said that the State Government was planning to set up agri export zones for onions at Erode, bananas at Tiruchi and Thanjavur, cashew at Cuddalore and Pudukkottai, grapes at Theni, and mangoes at Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli. These will be in addition to the export zones for cut flowers at Hosur and Udhagamandalam. A food park will be set up in the Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri belt where there is a cluster of mango processing units. Common infrastructure facilities will be established to enhance their competitiveness through cluster formation, Mr Sridhar said. The Government would shortly sign an agreement with the National Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium that would encourage entrepreneurship efforts in agro processing. It will also launch a pulses village concept pioneered by the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation that will be replicated in 100 villages in 10 districts. This will focus on enhancing production of millets and pulses and setting up infrastructure for processing these grains. The aim will be to demonstrate crop alternatives to water intensive crops such as paddy and sugarcane, he added.
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