Haryana Government is preparing a new scheme to encourage farmers to take up cultivation of horticultural and cash crops, along with making arrangements of their marketing.
The Centres of Excellence for Horticulture are being established in all districts with the aim of dissemination and promotion of new techniques of horticulture, said Haryana Agriculture Minister, OP Dhankar on Friday.
The Minister said that a target has been fixed to make the International Terminal Market for fruits and vegetables being set up at Ganaur operational within next two years. In this Mandi, focus would be laid on better packaging, less damage and transportation management. A special purpose vehicle is being set up for this purpose, he added. He said that in this direction, he had recently visited China along with a delegation to study big markets of fruits and vegetables.
Dhankar said that the Central Government has given approval to establish a new horticulture university in the country. In this series, Horticulture University is being established in district Karnal. This University would have three regional study centres. Plans would be prepared to increase marketing of horticultural crops in the National Capital Region. Apart from this, efforts are being made to promote organic farming, he added.
Earlier, speaking at a seminar on ‘Agriculture in Haryana: Converting challenges into opportunities,’ in New Delhi, Dhankar shared his concern over loss of soil fertility due to excessive use of pesticides and burning of agricultural waste and said that less than 20 per cent organic material is now left in the soil, which leads to lower yield.
On the issue of absence of crop management, the Minister said that there is a need to develop an efficient system of crop and crop marketing management system and to strike a balance between them.
He said that modern technologies of cold storage, processing and drying should be promoted to minimise post harvest crop losses. The issue of land ownership is one of the biggest challenges being faced by the agriculture sector in Haryana and across the country, as tenant farmers did not get any compensation, he added.
Highlighting the challenges faced by the farmers, he said that farmers suffer huge losses due to crop damage caused by pest attack or natural calamities.
Dhankar said that sugar mill owners should take the responsibility of welfare of sugarcane growers and basmati rice exporters should ensure that rice growers get the best price for their produce.
The Minister said that it is the need of the hour to promote water conservation in a mission mode across the state. The present canal system in the state is primitive and leads to loss of one-third of the entire water supply. There is a need to reconstruct the entire canal system by upgrading technology and introducing modern techniques like micro-irrigation system, which could help conserve water, he added.
He further said that water recycling and recharging should be promoted even in the urban areas, as per capita water consumption in urban centres is about 150 litres as compared to 50 litres in rural centres.
The State Government is working towards increasing dairy production across Haryana. The agricultural products, including dairy, wheat and rice, would be promoted and sold as branded products, which would result in greater prosperity among farmers, he added.