30-Nov-2022: Farmers will benefit from Horticulture Cluster Development Programme, says Union Agriculture Minister

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has prepared the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP), for which a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar for its proper implementation. Minister of State Shri Kailash Chaudhary participated virtually in the meeting. In the meeting, Shri Tomar told the concerned officials that the main objective of the government is to promote the Agriculture sector in the country and to increase the income of the farmers by giving them a reasonable price for their produce, so the interest of the farmers should be paramount in the center of any programme/scheme.

Union Minister Shri Tomar said that the overall development of horticulture in the country would be focused with the help of the implementation of the Cluster Development Programme and it would be emphasized that the farmers should be benefited from this programme. He said that the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand etc. should also be included in the list of 55 clusters, identified with their focus/main crops. Shri Tomar said that the land available with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) affiliated institutions within the identified clusters should be utilized for the implementation of this programme. He also emphasized on crop diversification and linking this ambitious programme with the market for produce sale and capacity building.

Minister of State, Shri Chaudhary said that under the programme there is a need for geo-tagging of infrastructure for benefitting small and marginal farmers, tracking of activities implemented in the fields, monitoring purpose, etc.

The meeting was informed that the Cluster Development Programme has a great potential to transform the entire horticulture ecosystem by creating last-mile connectivity with the use of multimodal transport for efficient and timely evacuation and transportation of horticulture produce. The CDP will also create cluster-specific brands, while helping the economy, to integrate them into national and global value chains, thereby providing higher remuneration to farmers. The CDP will benefit around 10 lakh farmers and related stakeholders along the value chain. The CDP aims to improve exports of targeted crops by about 20% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops. A lot of investment will also come in the horticulture sector through CDP.

During the meeting, Shri Tomar released Cluster-wise 12 brochures containing details of opportunities to avail financial assistance through relevant government schemes/programmes. The brochures also provide brief information about focus crop, potential value addition and export destinations.

Union Agriculture Secretary Shri Manoj Ahuja, Joint Secretary Shri Priya Ranjan, Horticulture Commissioner Shri Prabhat Kumar along with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and National Horticulture Board (NHB) were also present in the meeting.

8-Apr-2022: Anantapur Banana Cluster and Horticulture Cluster Development Programme reviewed

Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, IAS, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, visited the Karnapudiki Village of Narpala Mandal in Anantapur District to review the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (HCDP) of National Horticulture Board. Anantapur for Banana has been selected as a pilot cluster under HCDP. During the visit, Dr. Likhi interacted with the stakeholders of the banana value chain from the cluster. While interacting with the banana growers he highlighted that the programme addresses the challenges of entire value chain, including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding.

The HCDP is designed to leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters. He explained to banana growers the importance of Good Agricultural Practices resulting in getting quality produce which would eventually translate into higher remuneration. He urged block-level horticulture officers to take a workshop with farmers on Cluster Development Programme and make them understand the programme’s aspects and objectives.

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has identified 55 horticulture clusters, of which 12 have been selected for the pilot launch of the programme. The clusters of the pilot phase include Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (H.P.) for Apple, Lucknow (U.P.), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar (Telangana) for Mango, Anantapur (A.P.) and Theni (T.N.) for Banana, Nasik (Maharashtra) for Grapes, Siphahijala (Tripura) for Pineapple, Solapur (Maharashtra) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for Pomegranate and West Jaintia Hills (Meghalaya) for Turmeric.

Talking about the reach and impact of the programme, Dr. Likhi said, “Banana Cluster in Anantapur will benefit about 14,000 banana farmers and related stakeholders of the value chain and will handle approximately 7.5 Lakhs MT of banana. With this programme, we aim to improve exports of the targeted crops by 20-25% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops”.

Dr. Likhi reviewed the overall progress of the programme during interaction with the officers from Andhra Pradesh Horticulture Development Agency, which is appointed as Cluster Development Agency to implement the programme in the cluster. He requested involved officers to ensure that the programme gets implemented in a timely manner and a periodic meeting should take place to review the ongoing activities under the programme. During the visit, Dr. Likhi was accompanied by Commissioner Horticulture, Andhra Pradesh; Director Horticulture, Andhra Pradesh; Director, Horticulture Development Agency, and other officers from the Department of horticulture, Andhra Pradesh.

6-Aug-2021: Development of Horticulture Cluster

Cluster Development Programme (CDP) has been designed to leverage geographical specialization of horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive. The main objectives of the CDP are as under:

1. Address the concerns of the horticulture value chain from pre-production, production, post-harvest management and value addition to logistics, marketing and branding in an integrated manner for accelerating competitiveness in the domestic and export market.
2. Reduce harvest and post-harvest losses by developing/ expanding/upgrading the infrastructure for post-harvest handling of produce, value addition and market linkages.
3. Facilitate the introduction of innovative technologies and practices to help enhance the global competitiveness of focus cluster crops.
4. Facilitate the dovetailing of resources, including convergence of various government schemes in order to entrench stakeholders in the global value chains.
5. Build the capacity of stakeholders and enhance farmers’ income through cluster-specific interventions including brand promotion.

MoAFW has selected 12 clusters for the pilot phase of the programme. So far, Government has appointed Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) in 11 clusters of the pilot phase.

The formation of FPOs is an integral part of Horticulture Cluster Development Programme which will help farmers with small land holding and help them in achieving economies of scale in an integrated manner by addressing concerns of entire value chain in the selected clusters. 

List of selected 12 clusters under pilot phase of Cluster Development Programme

The status of appointment of Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs)

31-May-2021: Union Minister Shri Narendra Singh Tomar launches Horticulture Cluster Development Programme

To ensure holistic growth of horticulture, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) today. In a pilot phase, the programme will be implemented in 12 horticulture clusters out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme. A central sector programme implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, CDP aims at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.

Shri Tomar, in his speech, highlighted that the programme will address all major issues related to the Indian horticulture sector including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding. The programme is designed to leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters. Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) has identified 53 horticulture clusters, of which 12 have been selected for the pilot launch of the programme. Based on the learnings from the pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all the identified clusters.

Talking about the reach and impact of the programme, Shri Tomar said, 'Doubling farmers' income is one of the biggest priorities of our government. CDP will benefit about 10 lakh farmers and related stakeholders of the value chain. With this programme, we aim to improve exports of the targeted crops by approx. 20% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops.” CDP is expected to attract an estimated investment of INR 10,000 crore when implemented in all the 53 clusters.

The clusters of the pilot phase include Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (H.P.) for Apple, Lucknow (U.P.), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar (Telangana) for Mango, Anantapur (A.P.) and Theni (T.N.) for Banana, Nasik (Maharashtra) for Grapes, Siphahijala (Tripura) for Pineapple, Solapur (Maharashtra) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for Pomegranate and 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.

The programme is expected to converge with other initiatives of the Government such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund which is a medium - long term financing facility for investment in projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets and will leverage the central sector scheme of the Ministry for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmers Producer Organisations (FPOs).

The Cluster Development Programme has a huge potential to transform the entire horticulture ecosystem improving its global competitiveness by building last-mile connectivity with the use of multimodal transport for the efficient and timely evacuation and transport of horticulture produce.

In his address, Minister of State for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Parshottam Rupala stated that “there is need to develop such clusters throughout the country which will help the farmers with small size of holdings through formation of FPOs”.

The Secretary, Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Shri Sanjay Agarwal announced the appointment of Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs)in the selected clusters. He further stated that “the programme framework will ensure an astute engagement of state governments through CDAs, and institutionalization of learnings for future replication and scaling up of the programme in other clusters. The Cluster Development Programme will not only help in achieving economies of scale but also create cluster-specific brands to entrench them into national and global value chains bringing higher remuneration to the farmers”.

The event was also attended by Dr. Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, MoA&FW, other senior officers of the Ministry, Shri. Rajbir Singh, Managing Director, NHB and officials of APEDA. The senior officers of the Cluster States/UTs and officers from the State Horticulture Missions also joined the virtual launch of the ceremony.