हिंदी
Manohar Lal-led government has taken concrete steps towards promoting Agriculture
After the Green Revolution, Chief Minister has envisaged swiftly moving towards the Blue Revolution
Chandigarh, November 3 – The concrete steps taken by the Manohar Lal-led government towards promoting Agriculture have once again been recognized at the national level as the State has been selected as the best State in outstanding contributors in the areas of policies, programs, production, inputs, technologies, marketing, value addition, infrastructure and exports in Haryana State.
The award shall be conferred on November 9, in New Delhi during the Agro world 2022. The 15-member eminent Jury chaired by Professor Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Ayog has finalized the State of Haryana as Best State in Agriculture and Horticulture due to the innovations being done in this sector and implementation of superior techniques, advanced methods in the field of Agriculture and Horticulture. With the rapid pace of globalization, trade and agribusinesses have grown manifolds in the past many years.
Notably, once known for its significant contribution to the Green Revolution, Haryana under the dynamic leadership of the Chief Minister is now working on a mission mode to swiftly move towards the Blue Revolution.
In the journey of transformation of Indian agriculture from a production centric to a market-driven system, Haryana state has played a catalytic role. Various steps have been taken by Haryana Government in view of improvement in the field of agriculture and Horticulture including proper use of water for irrigation, diversification of crops consuming less water and implementing various schemes to increase farmers’ income. Haryana is mainly an agrarian state.
The State Government is making consistent efforts in the direction of growing the profits and income of farmers of Haryana through diversification.
At present, the State Government has given special focus to Agribusiness promotion and self-sustainability and joining hands with Agri Sector Companies. Farmer Producer Organizations are identified as the most appropriate institutional form around which to mobilize farmers and build their capacity to collectively leverage their production and marketing strength.
Collectivization of producers especially small and marginal farmers into producer organizations has emerged as one of the most effective pathways to address the many challenges of agriculture but most importantly, improved all on investments, technology and inputs and markets.
The State Government has given special focus on the formation and promotion of FPOs, and so far, around 700 FPOs have been formed in the State.
To strengthen backward and forward linkages, agri-sector companies are being invited in the State to work with these FPOs. During 2021-22, 22 Agri Sector Companies executed 34 MoU with 22 FPOs for trading and marketing of FPOs produce with buy back mechanism. During the current financial year, 12 more FPOs and 15 companies have come forward to sign MoU for horticulture commodities.
Haryana is providing Major incentives to FPOs for their handholding under the central sector scheme. For agribusiness Govt. has launched a special scheme namely Crop Cluster Development Programme for the FPOs. Under this programme, a 70-90 percent subsidy is provided to FPOs for establishing Integrated Pack Houses in the Horticulture Clusters. So far, 30 Integrated Pack Houses have been established and 35 are under progress. Priority is also given to them by Agriculture Department for establishing Custom Hiring Centres.
For further promotion, the State Government is coming up with “FPO Policy 2022” Under this Policy, SFAC-Haryana is proposed to act as a State Nodal Agency to liaison with various implementing agencies and taking up some important works like registration, rating or grading, monitoring, promotion and strengthening of FPOs, including cluster formation of Horticulture and Agriculture.
This Policy will also ensure the smooth functioning of FPOs, strengthening of backward and forward linkages, strengthening of the supply chain and direct marketing or trading of produce after sorting or grading at the aggregation points. At present, more attention is being given towards diversification to increase the income of the farmers and generate more employment opportunities for them.
