The acreage under guava cultivation in Chhattisgarh has reached 20,292 hectares during 2014-15, officials claimed. In 2004-05 the acreage under guava cultivation was a mere 3,641 hectares, they stated. The State Government’s Horticulture Department which is implementing a promotion scheme for the fruit had led to quantum jump in the area under guava cultivation in Chhattisgarh. Horticulture Department officials informed that a special action plan had been prepared for promotion of guava cultivation in the State.
Under the scheme, a target had been set to increase the guava cultivation to 3,000 hectares. The guava varieties especially grown in Chhattisgarh are lucknow 49, Allahabadi safeda, lalit and Keji. The regions on the forefront in guava cultivation are Raipur, Durg, Dhamtari, Kawardha, Bemetara, Rajnandagon and Bilaspur districts.
Chhattisgarh now has set a target of promoting cultivation of vegetables in 4,425 hectares of land under National Horticulture Mission. An amount of Rs175 crore had been earmarked for implementing its Annual Plan 2015-16 under National Horticulture Mission in Chhattisgarh.
The annual plan was endorsed in a recent meeting of the 12th Working Committee of the State Horticulture Development Society chaired by Additional Chief Secretary of Agriculture Department Ajay Singh. The plan comprises a target for cultivating vegetables in an area of 4,425 hectares for which a provision of Rs15.16 crore was proposed. A provision of Rs13.50 crore had been made to promote vegetable cultivation in the State.
A target of 2,500 hectares had been set for growing condiment based crops while a target of 2,240 hectares had been set for Floriculture . A provision of Rs4.50 crore had also been made for carrying out organic farming and Rs1.52 crore for promotion of bee keeping.This apart, a provision of Rs1.12 crore had been made to develop new water sources.
Notably, the State embarked on an ‘Organic Farming Mission’ on an experimental basis in five districts of the State namely Kanker, Koriya, Raigarh, Raipur and Dantewada, officials said. The National Agriculture Development Scheme is being implemented since year 2007-08 with objectives of expanding cultivation area of fruits, vegetables and spice crops and supplying advanced high-quality seeds to farmers. Earlier under Shakhambari Scheme, subsidy was provided for only electricity and diesel based irrigation pumps but now farmers using petrol based irrigation pumps are also eligible for availing subsidy under this scheme, they stated.
Moreover, the Government had been providing free seeds and fertilizers to the tribal families holding forest rights certificates.The arrangements for free distribution of seeds and fertilizers have also been made. Agriculture Service Centres have been established in every development block of the State from where the farmers are provided agricultural equipments on rent. Soon Soil Quality Card Distribution Scheme will also be started to inform the farmers about quality and type of soil in their farms. Under this scheme, soil quality cards will be distributed to all 37 lakh farmers of State in coming five years.
The State Government’s ‘Kisaan Samriddhi Yojana’ has also proved to be a boon for farmers. Under this scheme, farmers are provided section-wise grant for tube-well digging. More than 75,000 farmers have been benefited under the scheme. State Government is operating number of other schemes, which have proved extremely beneficial for the farmers.
Besides cultivation, animal husbandry and fishery are the additional source of income for farmers. Hence, State Government has included animal husbandry and fishery under its all-round agricultural development policy. With the help of Government schemes, large number of farmers has taken up employment-oriented activities to march ahead on the path of progress. To encourage farmers practicing traditional animal husbandry, State Government started the scheme of providing loan upto Rs1 lakh at one per cent interest rate from the previous year. This year, the loan amount has been increased to Rs2 lakh.