Bihar govt promotes ‘Strawberry Vikas Yojana’ with 40% subsidy

Gaya: The Bihar government has been encouraging farmers to move from traditional farming to the horticulture sector because it is more profitable. As part of this, the state government has launched a scheme named ‘Strawberry Vikas Yojana’, offering a 40% subsidy for strawberry cultivation. The scheme is designed to benefit farmers belonging to different groups so that all of them get advantage.

As per the scheme overall, 78.56% of the beneficiaries will belong to the general category, 20% and 1.44 percent from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe respectively. Besides this, women have been given preference, and 30% of the beneficiaries will be women in every category with the aim of empowering them.

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Under the Strawberry Vikas Yojana, the total unit cost per hectare of strawberry cultivation is fixed at Rs 8.40 lakh, with farmers receiving a subsidy of Rs 3.36 lakh per hectare. In the beginning, the scheme will cover 20 districts of the state, allowing farmers to cultivate strawberries on a minimum of 0.25 acres (0.1 hectare) and a maximum of 5 acres (2 hectares).

The state government will provide several facilities, such as strawberry saplings, crushed stone, and plastic boxes for packaging. Small plastic boxes are essential for packaging, and they will be provided at subsidized rates, reducing the cost by 40%.

Interested farmers can avail of the scheme without running from pillar to post. They can apply through the official website of the Horticulture Directorate, Agriculture Department of Bihar, at https://horticulture.bihar.gov.in/. The government is supporting strawberry farming, so it is expected that it will flourish in Bihar and farmers can fetch a huge income from this new venture.