Horticulture census in Himachal Pradesh goes on at tardy pace, apple growers upset

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, April 26

The horticulture census being carried out in the state is going on at a snail’s pace. The agency tasked with the job has failed to “comply with the timelines” and the Horticulture Department might rope in another organisation for completing the exercise. Apple growers are upset at the tardy pace of the census.

“The agency has failed to comply with the timeline for the census. We will speak to the agency to assess if it can complete the work or not. If not, the work will be given to some other agency,” says Director Horticulture RK Pruthi.

Interestingly, the census was being conducted after over 30 years. The exercise was last done in 1989. Last year, the Horticulture Department signed an MoU with the Common Service Centre (CSC) for the census for detailed and updated information on the horticultural land and associated activities in the state. The CSC was to conduct the survey in all 12 districts of the state, starting with Shimla. “The agency has so far completed just around 45 per cent of the work in Shimla district,” says Pruthi.

The horticultural landscape has changed beyond recognition since the last census conducted in the late 80s. As the data collected in the census done over three decades ago is now outdated, the Horticulture Department depends largely on the Revenue Department data for framing policies and programmes. Apple growers, the backbone of the horticulture economy in the state, are disappointed that successive governments have not conducted the census for such a long period of time. “This shows how serious successive governments have been in developing horticulture,” says Harish Chauhan, president of the Fruit, Vegetable and Flower Growers Association.

“How will the department frame the required policies for such an important sector if it doesn’t even have updated data. So, the current census must be completed as early as possible,” says Chauhan.

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