CHANDIGARH : Haryana bagged the India Agribusiness Award-2022 in the category of ‘Best State’ by the Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture, for its outstanding contribution in the areas of policies, programmes, production, inputs, technologies, marketing, value addition, infrastructure and exports in the agriculture sector.
Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister, Sh. JP Dalal received the award at
a function in New Delhi. MrDalal said that Haryana has once again proved its mettle in the agriculture sector.
He said that Haryana, which was one of the largest contributors to the national food pool, has taken several policy initiatives for diversification and promotion of horticulture and agri- business, adding that the state has mapped around 400 horticultural crop clusters and formed 700 Farmer Producer Organizations.
He asserted that in order to strengthen the backward and forward linkages in the clusters, Haryana has launched an ambitious scheme – Crop Cluster Development Program (CCDP), through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) with a provision of Rs. 510.35 crore for setting up integrated packhouses.
“So far 30 integrated packhouses have been established and work on 35 others is in progress. A total of 100 such integrated packhouses are targeted to be set up by the end of the current financial year, ” said Sh. JP Dalal.
The Agriculture Minister further said that in order to ensure the ultimate value chain for the farmers and agricultural products, a total of 37 agriculture sector companies have executed 54 Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with 34 FPOs for trading and
marketing of FPO products with buy-back mechanism to promote agri-business activities. He said that in a short span of 10 months, trade of 13, 400 metric tonnes of horticulture products has been carried out; of which work worth Rs 14 crore has been completed and it was expected to exceed Rs 200 crore.
Mr Dalal said that Haryana has been a pioneer in price protection through ‘Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana (BBY)’ and has encouraged Rs 24 crores (in last three years) for horticulturecrops and about Rs 750 crores for Bajra under Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana. “In the year 2021- 22, a total of 2.41 lakh farmers were covered from Rs 437 crore, while in 2022-23, about
2.25 lakh farmers were covered from Rs 310 crore. Haryana is a leader in technology showcase and has established 11 Centers of Excellence with national and international collaborations, ” he said.
He further said that a premium horticulture training institute has also been set up in the state under the National Skill Mission for training more than 2, 500 farmers and F LKentrepreneurs through weekly, monthly and annual programs.
While praising Haryana for the achievement, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Mr Sanjeev Balyan said that Haryana was at the forefront in the field of agriculture and animal husbandry. He said that there was a need to connect agriculture and business, which will prosper the farmers of the country more and connect the youth. He said that along with the government, scientists, intellectuals and researchers will have to come forward and work together to make the farmers lead and thrive.
Mr Dalal said that Asia's biggest horticulture market would be set up in Ganaur.
“This market will be much better than the markets in Paris and Spain. Haryana does not lagbehind from taking any new steps within the agriculture sector, ” he added.