The Indian government has allowed five private firms to undertake cluster farming of specific horticulture crops in about 50,000 hectares on a pilot basis. Banana, apple, grapes, turmeric and mango are the main crops that these companies will focus on. The timeline for completion and operationalization of the project will be four years.
This entails an investment of Rs 7.5 bln (€82.5 mln), including government subsidy. Desai Agrifoods, FIL Industries, Sahyadri Farms, Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, and Prasad Seeds are five companies selected for pilot cluster farming through a bidding process.
The government will provide financial assistance up to Rs 1 bln, depending on the size of the project under the recently launched central scheme Cluster Development Programme (CDP), which is implemented by the National Horticulture Board.
Desai Agrifoods's ‘banana cluster'' project will be developed in Ananthapura, Andhra Pradesh. Sahyadri Farms' ‘grapes cluster' project will come up in Nasik, Maharashtra, while Meghalaya Basin Management Agency's ‘turmeric cluster' project will be developed in West Jaintia Hills. FIL Industries will develop an ‘apple cluster' in Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir, while Prasad Seeds will develop a ‘mango cluster' in Mahabubnagar, Telangana.
Source: thenorthlines.com