The Hindu Business Line : `Bengal is not utilising horticulture subsidy schemes optimally'

EVEN though West Bengal ranks among the top producers of various horticulture items such as fruits and vegetables in the country, the State has not been able to take full advantage of the subsidy or financial assistance schemes provided by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) for commercial horticulture.

Talking to Business Line here, Dr A.K. Das, Area Officer of NHB, said that from 2000-01 till August 31, 2004, only 18 commercial and bankable projects have come up in West Bengal with NHB assistance out of a total of 2,246 commercial horticultural projects undertaken nationwide.

Maharashtra had the highest number of such projects at 727, followed by Karnataka (347) and Andhra Pradesh (277). In the process, of the total subsidy of Rs 76 crore provided by NHB during this period, West Bengal could avail itself of only Rs 39 lakh.

Dr Das identified fragmented land-holdings, lack of awareness, resistance to contract farming and lack of proactive approach on the part of the State Government as the main factors behind such inadequate performance.

According to Mr Ajaya Sahu, manager of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), application of the Rent Control Act on the potato cold stores had a negative effect on the expansion and modernisation of the crucial infrastructure in the State, as NHB assistance was not available to such stores.

Most of the States have kept such cold storages outside the purview of the Rent Control Act. West Bengal has a total of about 367 cold storages, of which 327 are meant for potatoes.

In the last few months, NHB has received some project proposals for pineapple, floriculture and high tech horticulture nurseries.

The current credit-linked back-ended NHB capital investment subsidy scheme for cold stores is scheduled to continue till March 31, 2005.

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
`Govt must set sub-targets for farm credit'

Riot of colours

`Bengal is not utilising horticulture subsidy schemes optimally'

Spot rubber firm on covering purchases

New profile emerged for tea exports in 2004

Tobacco industry calls for continuation of AED regime

Cardamom declines on sluggish demand