Horticulture project a boon for farmers

Shimla/Hamirpur, February 13

Fields abandoned in lower hills of Himachal due to wildlife menace and lack of irrigation are now dotted with fruit trees under a horticulture project that provides for composite solar fencing and subsidy on agricultural equipment.

Kaihdru village on the Shimla-Hamirpur national highway is one such village that has come alive with pomegranate orchards. Farmers Prakash Chand and Ramesh Chand are a happy lot as their sweet lime and pomegranate plants have started bearing fruit.

Mosambi, pomegranate orchards

• Horticulture Department officials have decided to develop a cluster of sweet lime (mosambi) and pomegranate in Kaihdru village under the project SHIVA project
• About 6,000 hectare land has been identified for the project in 28 development blocks of Sirmaur, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi dists
• The initiative will benefit over 25,000 farmer families in the area

Horticulturist Madan Lal said his family was upset due to crop damage by wild animals. However, the situation changed after the family switched to fruit crops.

Another farmer Ram Chand said the new cropping idea had changed the life of his family and they were now ready to adopt fruit crops in a big way. The change is the outcome of HP Sub-tropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition (SHIVA) Pilot Project that envisaged horticulture development on the basis of seed-to-market concept with provision for composite solar fencing to protect fruits from wild animals and subsidy on agricultural equipment and drip irrigation system.

About 75 per cent of the cultivable land in Himachal is rainfed and hundreds of farmers had given up farming due to the menace of wild animals.

“Under a pilot project, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) finalised Project Readiness Financing of Rs 75 crore for testing four fruits — guava, litchi, pomegranate and citrus fruits — in 17 clusters of 12 development blocks in four districts covering 200 hectares and the results are encouraging,” said Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi. About 6,000 hectares of land has been identified in 28 development blocks of Sirmaur, Solan, Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra and Mandi districts, which will benefit over 25,000 farmer families under the main project.

The officials of the Horticulture Department have decided to develop a cluster of sweet lime (mosambi) and pomegranate in Kaihdru village under the project. Deputy Director Horticulture Department Rajeshwar Parmar said the department has adopted the strategy of “‘one cluster, one fruit” under the project in Hamirpur district.

Under this strategy, sweet lime trees were planted on large scale along with pomegranates. The project is being implemented in collaboration with the ADB which approved a loan of Rs 1072 crore for the project on Friday.