Chhattisgarh’s farmers have established orchards on a total of 14,883 hectares of land during the past two years with assistance from Horticulture and Range Forestry Department of the State Government,said in an official statement issued here on Thursday.
Under a State Horticulture Mission project, the farmers during 2011-12 established orchards for mango, lichi, lemon, banana, papaya and other fruits while utilising a total of 9,534 hectares of land, according to an official statement issued here on Thursday.
During the financial year 2012-13 by the month of November 2012, the farmers had established more orchards with the utilization of a total of 5,349 hectares of land.
The total grant from the Horticulture Department offered to the framers for establishing orchards was in excess of Rs32 crore.
Similarly, under the Floriculture Area Extension project, the farmers grew flowers on a total of 5,945 hectares of land during the past two years through development of farms for the purpose.
As a result, under the State Horticulture Mission during the year 2011-12, the area under floriculture grew by 5,920 hectares while during 2012-13 the cultivated area got extended by 25 hectares by November 2012.
The total grant offered to the farmers for the floriculture activities during the period stood at 20.17 crore.
This apart, a total of 920 community borewells have been dug during the past two years under a State Horticulture Mission programme with the implementation of a community irrigation project for horticulture crops during the last two financial years.
Moreover, there had been a significant rise in the area under cultivation of condiments and medicinal crops. During 2011-12, the area under extension of condiments and medicinal crops stood at 17,733 hectares while during 2012-13 it increased by 1,249 hectares which also included cultivation of some fragrant fruit crops.
For this, the total grant offered to the farmers by the State Government stood at Rs23.5 crore. During similar period the area under cultivation of cashew grew by 2,657 hectares.
During financial year 2012-13 by December 2012, out of the 2,535 hectares, another 122 hectares was added for cashew crops during 2011-12.
The total grant offered to the farmers for cashew cultivation stood at Rs8 crore.
Moreover, a total of 15 nurseries were established in the State during the past two financial years for growing saplings of fruits under the State Horticulture Mission. Out of the 15 nurseries, 10 were established during 2011-12 and five in 2012-13.
It may be mentioned that the State government offers 100 per cent grant for establishment of ‘Model Nursery’ under the State Horticulture Mission.
Similarly, the Horticulture Department offers 100 per cent grant for the establishment of small nurseries in the public sector and a maximum of 50 per cent grant for setting up the same in the private sector or at the rate of Rs3.1250 lakh per hectare of land.