Govt mulls setting up clusters for growing vegetables

Move aimed to address mismatch in demand and supply at urban centres to address the issue of vegetable shortage at urban centres across the country, the Centre plans to have clusters for vegetable cultivation and storage. One such cluster would be set in either the capital city or any city with a population of more than one million in each state.

Creation of these clusters would address the mismatch in demand and supply of vegetables in select cities. A proposal for this was made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, with an allocation of Rs 300 crore, in the Union Budget for 2011-12.

According to draft guidelines prepared for implementing the scheme, private players would not have a major role to play in the programme. State governments would identify the city where they want to set up these clusters. A survey will be conducted in the identified cities to assess the supply bottlenecks and potential areas near the city where vegetables could be grown.

“Based on the survey, state governments would have to prepare a project report that would also have information on geography and climate, potential for vegetable development and land availability,” a key government official said. The report should also spell out the measures through which the existing infrastructure, like warehouses, godowns, etc, could be better utilised for storage of vegetables in states.

“Availability of safe and good quality vegetables on a regular basis at affordable prices is a major challenge. For this, action is required on several fronts, like production, post-harvest handling, storage, transportation, marketing, distribution and policy reform,” the official said. The government plans to organise vegetable growers into farmer associations and groups to benefit from economies of scale and also coordinate with public sector agencies and municipal corporations to make land available for cultivation near cities.

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) will provide the necessary credit for the programme. The state directorates of horticulture, horticulture missions and governments will be main implementing agencies for the scheme. Barring minor dips, India’s food inflation has mostly remained stubbornly high through 2010-11, because of high price of fruit, vegetables and protein-rich foods like milk, chicken and fish.