Centre plans to intensify horti-crop cultivation

The Central government has identified 185 districts across the country for intensification of horticulture cultivation using remote sensing and geo-spatial technologies.

The government has identified three fruit crops — banana, mango and citrus — and vegetable and spice crops, such as potato, onion, tomato and chilli, under the programme.

The initiative is being undertaken as part of a project launched three years ago, called Chaman or Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using Geoinformatics, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said here on Monday.

As part of the project, experts associated with the Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre under the Ministry will use remote sensing and GIS tools to identify areas suitable for growing the crops, rank them according to suitability, and make yield projections and early disease assessments.

The technologies would also be used to assess the area under cultivation and forecasting yield, Ministry officials told mediapersons. Horticulture production in the country for the first time touched 300 million tonnes this year and there is potential to increase it further.

According to the officials, horticulture crops are different from other crops. They are grown in small plots, have multiple cropping seasons and sometimes have multiple pickings in same season.

The project is to be implemented first in the North-East and an interim report of site suitability study for the region is expected to be ready by January next year.

The Centre has chosen at least one district in all the North-Eastern States under the project for augmenting horticulture production. The areas will be either in wasteland or those under slash and burn cultivation.