With vegetable production becoming a cause for concern for the government; the central government is examining a new proposal of providing subsidy for greenhouse farming of vegetables in an area of 20-25 kilometres around townships having a population of about 300,000.
The greenhouse farming would not help in augmenting the vegetable supply but is also expected to ameliorate the economic status of the farmers.
Union Agriculture Minsiter Sharad Pawar was here to inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for vegetables, which has been set up with the cost of Rs 6 crore as part of the Indo-Israel bilateral agreement on agricultural cooperation, which was signed in 2006.
Investments of Rs 157 million has been sanctioned under the National Horticulture Mission for two Centres of Excellence in 2010. Similar financial support of Rs 155 million has been provided for setting three Centres of Excellence at Ratnagiri, Akola and Rahuri in Maharashtra.
Pawar said the two projects in coordination with Israel are being implemented in Haryana, one of which for vegetable has become functional while the second one for fruits is being set up at the Mangyana village in Sirsa district. The Sirsa project is being set up with Rs 9.7 crore. The two projects would greatly help the farmers of the state and the region by guiding them in utilising the best technologies of Israel in farming for vegetables and fruits.
Israel is considered one of the leading countries, which is using modern and state-of-the-art know-how and technologies in water and energy production and in agriculture. The minister added, the centres would enhance the production and quality of vegetables and fruits by using modern technology and training the farmers.