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Targeting the “tremendous potential”, the West Bengal Government is actively promoting the horticulture sector through a central scheme that encourages food processing in the private, public and joint sectors to generate employment.
“Since the agri-horticulture sector in the State holds tremendous potential, there is immense potential for employment generation and growth of self-employment,” the Food Processing Industries and Horticulture Minister, Mr Abu Hena, told PTI.
The central scheme, the National Horticulture Mission (NHM), aims to promote the horticulture sector, covering fruits, vegetables, root and tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, cashew and cocoa.
While the Centre provided 100 per cent assistance to the State Mission implementing the scheme during the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the central assistance in the 11th Plan only amounted to 85 per cent of the fund requirement, with the remaining 15 per cent contributed by the State Government.
The allocations through different schemes under the NHM in the current financial year so far stand at a little over Rs 40 crore, against nearly Rs 35 crore in 2010-11, Mr Hena said.
The State Government has already achieved expansion of the cultivation area of perennial fruits such as mango, litchi and guava and non-perennial fruits like bananas and pineapples.
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