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What is the News?
The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme(CDP).
About Horticulture Cluster Development Programme(CDP):
- Horticulture Cluster Development Programme(CDP) aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
- A cluster is a group of enterprises. They are located within an identifiable and, as far as practicable, contiguous area and producing similar products or services.
- Nodal Agency: The nodal agency for the programme will be the National Horticulture Board(NHB). It will implement the programme as a Central Sector Component of NHB.
Coverage:
- The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare(MoA&FW) has identified 53 horticulture clusters. Of which 12 have been selected for the pilot launch of the programme.
- Based on the learnings from the pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all the identified clusters.
- These clusters will be implemented through Cluster Development Agencies(CDAs). CDAs are appointed on the recommendations of the respective State/UT Government.
Key Features of the Programme:
- Firstly, the programme will address all major issues related to the Indian horticulture sector. This includes pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding.
- Secondly, the programme is designed to leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters.
- Thirdly, the programme is expected to converge with other initiatives of the Government such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
Significance of the Programme:
- The programme will benefit about 10 lakh farmers and related stakeholders of the value chain in the Horticulture Sector.
- The programme is expected to improve the exports of the targeted horticultural crops by approximately 20%.
- Moreover, the programme is expected to attract an estimated investment of INR 10,000 crore. It is when implemented in all the 53 clusters.
Source: PIB
