Dehradun: Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister of Uttarakhand recently chaired the 8th General Assembly Meeting of the Uttarakhand Horticulture Council, attended by senior officials, farmer representatives, and experts from the horticulture sector. The meet got underway with an evaluation of the Council’s function, progress, and past decisions. Approval of the “Digital Horticulture & Plant Allocation System” was the highlight of the meeting. It will digitize horticultural schemes in the state.
It is also planned to set up a retail outlet and restaurant at the newly constructed building in Chaubatia Government Garden. The initiative is set to promote processed agricultural products along with improvement of services for tourists.
Several other decisions were taken, such as farmers will get training on modern techniques to improve the quality and yield of apples. Strategies will be developed to expand the reach of Uttarakhand’s horticultural produce. Special outlets are to be established in Nainital and Tehri to help farmers sell their processed products for better market access and higher profits.
At the end of the meeting, Minister Joshi talked with farmers’ representatives and asked officials to provide quality seeds, plants, fertilizers, and other horticultural inputs to farmers on time. The minister stressed the promotion of kiwi, large cardamom, and persimmon cultivation in the state. Give full support to organic farming in Rudraprayag, which has been declared an Organic District.
During the meeting, several top officials of the department, like Additional Secretary (Agriculture) Manuj Goyal, Director General (Agriculture & Horticulture) Ranbir Singh Chauhan, Joint Secretary (Finance) Shiv Swaroop Tripathi, and other senior officials, were present.
