Context:

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched the Horticulture Cluster Development Programme (CDP) in order to promote the export of horticultural produce.

About Cluster Development Programme (CDP)

• It is a central sector program aimed at growing and developing identified horticulture clusters to make them globally competitive.
• It will be implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
• In a pilot phase, the programme will be implemented in 12 horticulture clusters out of the total 53 clusters selected for the programme.
• These clusters will be implemented through Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) which are appointed on the recommendations of the respective State/UT Government.

Objectives:

• To address all major issues related to the Indian horticulture sector including pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing, and branding.
• To leverage geographical specialisation and promote integrated and market-led development of horticulture clusters.
• To converge with other initiatives of the Government such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
• The programme will benefit about 10 lakh farmers and is expected to attract an investment of Rs. 10,000 crore when implemented in all the 53 clusters.
• Horticulture is the branch of plant agriculture dealing with garden crops, generally fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants.
• Horticulture cluster is a regional/geographical concentration of targeted horticulture crops.
• Recent steps are taken for this sector:
• The Ministry has provided an enhanced allocation for the year 2021-22 for ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH).

Horticulture Sector in India:

• India is the second-largest producer of horticulture crops globally, accounting for approximately 12% of the world’s production of fruits and vegetables.
• India is a leader in producing fruits like Mango, Banana, Pomegranate, Sapota, Acid Lime, and Aonla.
• In 2018-19, Andhra Pradesh followed by Maharashtra and UP were the top states in fruit production.
• West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh were the top States in vegetable production.
• The area under horticulture crops increased to 25.5 million hectares in 2018-19, which is 20% of the total area under foodgrain, and produced 314 million tonnes.
• The Ministry has provided an enhanced allocation for the year 2021-22 for ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH).