Centre launches CDP to double horticulture farmers’ income

New Delhi: Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Tomar, launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) with an aim to promote the holistic growth of horticulture across the country. The programme is likely to be implemented in 12 horticulture phases. Overall, 53 areas of horticulture have been identified under the initiative in its pilot phase.

Implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB), the CDP has been planning to develop these clusters to complete globally. Tomar highlighted the programme and addressed the key challenges in the horticulture sector, including pre-production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing, and branding. The main focus is to be on integrated, market-driven development.

The minister stressed that the purpose of the initiative is to double the farmers’ income, which would benefit 10 lakh farmers and other stakeholders. The programme aims to improve exports of targeted crops by 20% and create unique brands for cluster-specific crops. CDP is expected to attract investments worth R10,000 crore when fully implemented and will work in synergy with other government initiatives, including the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and the Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Also Read: Delhi’s air quality improves to ‘poor’; smog continues

This groundbreaking planning is likely to renew the Indian horticulture sector, making it more competitive and sustainable along with improving the livelihoods of farmers all over the country. The cluster will improve the horticulture ecosystem, making it able to compete worldwide with the improvement of transportation and timely evacuation of horticulture products.

Top officials of the agriculture and horticulture sectors were present at the event, including Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, MoA&FW; other senior officers of the Ministry; Rajbir Singh, Managing Director, NHB; and officials of APEDA. The senior officers of the Cluster States/UTs and officers from the State Horticulture Missions were also present during the virtual launch of the event.