Horticulture Cluster Development Programme

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) has launched Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) to ensure holistic growth of horticulture.

It is central sector programme that aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
It is implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW).
Clusters – MoA&FW has identified 53 horticulture clusters, of which 12 have been selected for the pilot launch of the programme. They are,
1. Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (H.P.) for Apple,
2. Lucknow (U.P.), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar (Telangana) for Mango,
3. Anantpur (A.P.) and Theni (T.N.) for Banana,
4. Nasik (M.H.) for Grapes,
5. Siphahijala (Tripura) for Pineapple,
6. Solapur (M.H.) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for Pomegranate and
7. West Jaintia Hills (Meghalaya) for Turmeric.
These clusters will be implemented through Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) which are appointed on the recommendations of the respective State/UT Government.

It will address all major issues related to the Indian horticulture sector including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding.
It will leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters.
It will help in ‘Doubling farmers’ income. It will benefit about 10 lakh farmers and related stakeholders of the value chain.
It will improve exports of the targeted crops by 20% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops.
The programme is expected to converge with other initiatives of the Government such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
CDP has a huge potential to transform the entire horticulture ecosystem improving its global competitiveness by building last-mile connectivity.

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