A Potato Technology Centre was inaugurated in Haryana’s Karnal district on Wednesday.
With this, Haryana has become the first State in the country to have such a centre.
Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh along with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal inaugurated the centre and also laid the foundation stone of Horticulture University at village Anjanthali in Karnal.
The Union Minister said that the Central Government would provide financial assistance of Rs 200 crore for the setting up of this university and the first installment of Rs 50 crore would be released to the State Government in the month of April.
He said that farmers should be encouraged to adopt horticulture farming instead of conventional farming to boost their income.
Chief Minister Manohar lal said that the setting up of Horticulture University would significantly increase the production of fruits, flower, medicinal plants and other agro based products.
He said that the aim of the State Government is to ensure that farmers of the State meet the requirement of vegetable, fruit and flowers of the areas surrounding the National Capital Region (NCR) mainly Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Ghaziabad having a population of four crore.
Haryana Agriculture Minister OP Dhankar said to promote horticulture farming, the State Government has a plan to open Centre of Excellence in all 21 districts of the State with the assistance of Israel.
He added that a largest vegetable market for fruits and flower is being set up at Gannuar in district Sonipat over an area of about 600 acres.
Earlier, the Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of Zila Vikas Sadan to be constructed over an area of 2.25 acres at a cost of Rs 7.62 crore. He also inaugurated new police lines in Karnal constructed over an area of 60 acres of land at a cost of Rs 103 crore.
Apart from this, the Chief Minister also launched Science Bus (circus of science) at Karnal Panchayat Bhawan.