Madurai :
Kodaikanal block in Dindigul district has received Rs 37 lakh under the Integrated Horticulture Development Scheme (IHDS), as against Rs 6 lakh during the previous years, to augment vegetables and fruit production in the region. This is the highest allocation that this block has received under the IHDS.
According to S Raja Mohamed, deputy director of horticulture, Kodaikanal, understanding the importance of horticultural crops which require minimum water for their cultivation compared to paddy, sugarcane and other food crops and to meet the requirements of farmers in the block, the state government has sanctioned an increased allocation of Rs 37 lakh.
He said there was a need to increase the area under the highly remunerative as well as the nutritionally rich horticultural crops, especially fruits and vegetables, and also motivate farmers to grow fruit plants in their gardens. An area of 1,270 hectares under fruits and vegetable crops was to be developed with this fund, during the current fiscal under IHDS. The scheme carries an attractive subsidy.
Under IHDS, farmers can get high-yielding as well as hybrid seeds such as carrot, beans and peas at 50 percent subsidy for a maximum of half a hectare per farmer and high-yielding fruit plants like avacado, acidlime, plum grafts, peach grafts, pear grafts and coffee seedlings at 50 percent subsidy to the maximum of one hectare per farmer, he added.
Vegetable seeds like beans procured from the National Horticulture Research Development Foundation (NHRDF) , Hubli, Karnataka, and carrot seeds procured from the National seed Corporation, were being distributed to needy farmers in Kodaikanal.
Farmers can enroll their names in the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) for banana and potato crops in the block. All farmers including share croppers and tenant farmers growing notified crops in the notified areas are eligible for coverage. Kodaikanal, Pannaikadu and Thandikudi firkas are notified under this NAIS in Kodaikanal block for rabi season.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / December 25th, 2012