A slew of Horticulture training projects would now be taken up on 75 acres of land in the proposed Botanical Garden in the State’s new high-tech administrative capital.
A ‘Model Floriculture-cum-Demonstration Centre’ will be developed for Horticulture farmers where they can learn techniques for growing fruits, flowers and vegetables. State-level Farmers’ Training Centre and a Centre of Excellence will also be developed in Naya Raipur, officials stated.
Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said that the proposed Botanical Garden will be developed at a site between Upkhara and Khandwa in Naya Raipur. The Horticulture premises will come up near it.
The ‘Centre of Excellence’ will be developed at a cost of `10 crore on the Horticulture premises. A Model Floriculture unit will be developed at a cost of `70 lakh and farmers will be given training and technical knowledge on Mushroom farming , he said.
Agrawal said that there had been a rapid expansion of acreage under Horticulture during the past decade in Chhattisgarh. This includes fruits, flowers, vegetables and Masala (condiments) crops also. The farmers are displaying keen interest in Horticulture owing to the many incentives offered by the State Government, he said.
The farmers will be imparted detailed technical knowledge on Horticulture on the proposed premises in Naya Raipur, Agrawal said.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh Government has set a target of having 35,000 hectares of land devoted to cultivation of Horticulture crops during the next three years.
The Government has prepared an elaborate action plan to achieve the target.
As per the action plan, the region to be devoted for Horticulture crops has been divided into Surguja, Bastar, Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur regions. Agrawal said that the regions have been divided considering climate, soil conditions and geography of the respective regions.
He said that the Government had been promoting cultivation of potato, litchi, pineapple, strawberry and tomatoes in the northern parts of the State.
Agrawal said that during the last financial year, the farmers of the northern region were offered grants for growing fruits in 3,000 hectares of land.
He said that during the coming years, the acreage under Horticulture crops will rise to 10,000 hectares.
During 2014-15, the joint acreage under Guava, litchi and Strawberry grew by 750 hectares. During 2014-15, the acreage under Guava reached 20,292 hectares from 3,641 hectares in 2004-05.
Moreover, the State Government’s Horticulture Department which is implementing a promotion scheme for cultivation of fruits had led to quantum jump in guava production 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 in the forefront in guava cultivation are Raipur, Durg, Dhamtari, Kawardha, Bemetara, Rajnandagon and Bilaspur districts.