Punjab government has received a grant of Rs 28.50 crore as first installment of the annual action plan to be implemented under National Horticulture Mission.
The Union Agriculture Ministry has already approved an annual action plan of Rs 82.50 crore for the state under the National Horticulture Mission for Punjab in current financial year to promote 'Agriculture Diversification' programme.
A spokesman of the state horticulture department today said that under this plan, funds would be provided for setting up and maintenance of orchards, floriculture, bee-keeping besides installation of community water tanks, green house and cold stores.
He also said that the approval of the action plan would help in motivating farmers to shift from paddy to other less water intensive alternative crops like bee-keeping, mushroom cultivation flowers, fruits and vegetables.
He said Punjab government is taking concrete steps to strengthen the infrastructure for the preservation of fruits and vegetables which includes establishing two Centres of Excellence in the state including Centre of Excellence for Citrus at Khanaura in Hoshiarpur district at a cost of Rs 10.30 crore and Centre of Excellence for vegetables at Kartarpur in Jalandhar district at a cost of Rs 9.73 crore.
He also said that Centre of Excellence on Potatoes at Dhogri Kalan in Jalandhar district at a cost of Rs 7.30 crore, Centre of Excellence on Floriculture at Doraha district Ludhiana at a cost of Rs 8 crore and Centre of Excellence for utilisation of brackish water for utilizing horticulture crop like fruits and vegetables at Bhatinda at a cost of Rs 14.96 crore would be set up soon.
