Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, on Friday, directed the officials of the Rural Development department to develop 150 hi-tech nurseries within 100 days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
Maurya said two hi-tech nurseries should be established in each district for growing saplings of fruits and selected vegetables.
The cost of each nursery will be around Rs 1 crore and a nursery will produce about 15 lakh saplings every year.
According to an official communiqué released by the Rural Development department on Friday, the hi-tech nursery will be developed under Israeli technology as per the standards set by the Horticulture department.
The hi-tech nurseries developed under the MGNREGA scheme will be maintained through the cluster level federation of the National Rural Livelihood Mission.
The hi-tech nurseries will be developed with the technical assistance of Horticulture department, which is the MGNREGA project implementation agency,
Under the scheme, two nurseries are to be established in each district to grow saplings of fruits like pomegranate, jackfruit, lemon, mango, guava, etc. and vegetables according to the local geographical conditions and the demand in the surrounding areas. The hi-tech nurseries can be developed on community and individual land.
Under the MGNREGA scheme, a nursery will be developed on the collectively located land (as per the standards set by the department) of members of the self help groups/village organisation /cluster level federation. For developing a nursery, seedlings and seeds will be made available by the Horticulture department through the designated vendors.
According to an estimate, the average cost of each hi-tech nursery will be about Rs 1 crore. Every year 12 lakh to 16 lakh (average 15 lakh) saplings of herbs, fruits and medicinal plants will be produced in the hi-tech nursery which will have proper fencing. These nurseries will have infrastructural facilities like net house, irrigation facility, hi-tech green house etc.
The sale of plants produced in these hi-tech nurseries will be done at the local level by interested farmers, at the regional level by farmers' producer organisations (FPOs), other private nurseries and at the state level by various state government units. Besides, at the national level, the saplings will be sold through interested farmers' organisations of other states.