| The total allocation for all the states this year is fixed at Rs 1,000 crore. The outlay for the current year has been increased keeping in mind the extension of the project to 17 districts from 11 in the last year, said NHM director S K Pattanayak. |
| He said the current year's outlay for Karnataka includes Rs 40 crore of last year's funds, which had not been released due to delay in the start of the NHM project in the state. |
| The Centre had sanctioned Rs 85 crore for Karnataka during the fiscal 2005-06. However, the state had received only Rs 45 crore. The state government had sought a Rs 177-crore outlay from the Centre this year. |
| Pattanayak said, "The national horticulture mission work is progressing satisfactorily in all the states and till now nearly 65 per cent of the work to expand the area under cultivation of various horticulture crops has been done. The ministry of agriculture is aware of the difficulties faced by the states in implementing the project such as shortage of trained manpower, and raw materials and is taking steps to overcome these problems." |
| Pattanayak, who was here to participate in the India Organic 2006, an organic food trade fair, told Business Standard: "The absence of certification procedures to market organic produce in the domestic market is affecting the farmers unlike exports where standard procedures are put in place. The agriculture ministry is taking steps to put in place a proper mechanism to encourage cultivation and marketing of organic produce." |
| He said the agriculture ministry had also advised the state government to make use of non-government organisations and self-help groups to implement the national horticulture mission effectively. |
| The state department of horticulture is finding difficulty in implementing the project in the state due to lack of manpower. There are as many as 107 posts of officers vacant at the taluk level. |
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