Horticulture Minister seeks Rs 150 cr for Pushp Kranti Yojana

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 20

Horticulture Minister Mahender Singh Thakur called on Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday and sought Rs 150 crore for the Himachal Pushp Kranti Yojna, besides Rs 120 crore for various project proposals for the inclusive development of horticulture sector in the state.

He said the state government had conceived the Pushp Kranti Yojnaa project on protected cultivation of flowers to promote the agenda of growth and development aggressively in the next five years.

He said the state was fast emerging as the “flower state” due to its congenial agro-climatic conditions for growing different type of flowers round the year under protective covers. The protective cultivation of flower will not only safeguard the farmers from weather vagaries, monkey menace and protection from wild animals, but also provide ample opportunities for better livelihood for educated unemployed youth of the state, he added.

Thakur said the Horticulture Department had prepared various specific project proposals, which include establishment of hail control system in fruit belts of the state for protection of fruit crops worth Rs 23.06 crore under the “Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture” and another project worth Rs 60 crore for the promotion of organic farming in the state for the next three years under the “Parampragat Krishi Vikas Yojna”.