Polyhouse scheme for farmers comes a cropper

Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, September 25

About Rs 300 crore spent by the government on the scheme to provide polyhouses to farmers and make the state bowl of off-season vegetables has not achieved the desired results.

Barring a few progressive farmers in the state, common farmers who had purchased polyhouses with about 90 per cent subsidy being provided by the state government have either abandoned polyhouses or sold them to the adjoining state.

Due to failure of the scheme, the state Agriculture Department has also tightened norms for farmers who want to take the benefit of the polyhouse scheme. The state government has now made it mandatory for farmers who wanted a subsidy under the polyhouse scheme to get training from the Palampur agriculture university.

Dr Kanwar, Director (Research), Palampur Agriculture University, when contacted, admitted that farmers would now have to undergo a certificate training course with the institute for getting a subsidy under the polyhouse scheme. He said farm practices under polyhouses were different from general agriculture.

In Lahaul-Spiti, farmers initially complained that their polyhouses were getting damaged due to heavy snow in winter. The university then suggested changes in the design of the polyhouses that were to be brought up in cold desert areas like Lahaul-Spiti. “We got mesh wire installed in polyhouses due to which they were able to sustain in winter. Many farmers in Lahaul and Spiti were now producing vegetables till November”, Dr Kanwar claimed.

Farmers also faced technical problems in installing polyhouses during the stint of the previous BJP government. A large number of farmers had reported that their polyhouses had got infested with pests and had become unviable. Experts from the Palampur Agriculture University suggested that polyhouses should have two doors to prevent attack by pests.

Farmers were asked to spend money from their own pocket for converting polyhouses from single door to double door. Since most of the farmers failed to do so, their polyhouses got infested with pests and were rendered useless.

Farmers of Kangra district do not have a proper market for selling their produce. Even the local markets in Kangra district receive vegetables from Punjab. If the state government creates a market for selling vegetable produce of farmers of Kangra, farmers can be encouraged to produce more and take benefit of the polyhouse scheme of the government.