Haryana Government has set a target of bringing at least one-fourth of the total 36 lakh hectares of cultivable land in the State under horticultural crops within the next 10 years.
This would be done to increase the income of farmers by making them break out of the wheat-paddy cycle and give concrete shape to the idea of peri-urban agriculture, said Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar while talking to the mediapersons on Monday.
He said that this would also be done in deference to the demands of the people of Delhi and of the National Capital Region (NCR).
A high level meeting regarding peri-urban agriculture would be held with the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on May 11 in New Delhi. The Chief Minister Manohar lal would also be present at the meeting which would be attended by senior officers of Agriculture, Cooperation, Animal Husbandry and Horticulture Departments and the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board.
At present, only 4.9 lakh hectares of total cultivable land in Haryana is covered under horticultural crops. Target has been set to double the land under horticulture in the next 10 years in the State.
He said that peri-urban agriculture, to be promoted on the pattern of Beijing in China, would help in meeting the demand for milk and milk products, vegetables, fruits, flowers and poultry products in the NCR. Other food products could be brought in from other states but it would be inconvenient and expensive to bring daily necessities from other states, said he.