On recommendations of the Expert Group, 8 ongoing schemes having similar activities and common objectives were merged during 2022-23 in the name of Mukhyamantri Krishi Samvardhan Yojana (MKSY) to avoid overlapping of activities with the following components;
- Cluster based vegetable production scheme.
- Input based umbrella scheme (Seed, PPM & Fertilizers).
- Strengthening of Seed Multiplication Chain.
- Strengthening of laboratories.
During the current financial year, the budget provision of 33.67 crore have been kept to implement the various components of the scheme in the state.
(1) Cluster based Vegetable Production Scheme
Vegetables are rich in essential vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, which are vital for maintaining good health and preventing chronic diseases. Vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet and offer numerous nutritional and economic benefits. Leafy green vegetables are particularly nutrient-dense and provide significant amounts of vitamins A, C, K, folate and iron. They can help reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and eye diseases. Vegetables are a vital source of income for farmers of the state because of favourable climatic conditions for cultivation of off season vegetables and provide employment to the local community, transportation and retail industries. The cultivation and consumption of vegetables can contribute to local food and nutritional security and help in attaining the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG- 2) of the United Nations ‘End Hunger’ achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. So far, there has been an individual based assistance approach to the famers to promote area expansion of vegetables in the State through different ongoing central and state schemes of the Department of Agriculture. At present vegetables are grown on about 87,000 ha area in Himachal Pradesh which is around 16 % of the total cultivated area. However, there is scope for expansion of area under vegetable up to 30% of the total cultivated area i.e. 1,63,000 ha so that the income of the farmers is enhanced. The recent technological breakthrough in the field of vegetable production further suggest that the vegetable cultivation in the state can provide exceptional opportunities to boost the income of the farmers and play an important role in strengthening the economy and development of the state.
Hence, to harness the potential of vegetable cultivation in the state vis-à-vis the opportunities to boost farmers’ income, the Agriculture Department has envisaged and planned “Cluster Approach” for vegetable cultivation for the entire state in a phased manner. The objective of this approach is to focus on promotion and production of economically competitive vegetable crops as per suitability to the particular micro agro-ecological niche/cluster to enhance the income of the farmers by reaping advantage of better bargain for input purchase and marketing of the produce at cluster level through the locally appointed management of cluster groups and intensifying the need based interventions/ strengthening of farm infrastructure by converging the schemes of the Government. This will open avenues for employment of rural youth and farm women as well as development of agri-business centers, entrepreneurs and micro enterprises.
(2) Input based umbrella scheme (Seed, Plant Protection Material &Fertilizer)
Under this component the subsidy to the individual farmers on purchase of seeds, fertilizer and plant protection material/ equipments is provided as per below detail;
(i) Seeds: Seed is a critical input which determines the productivity and production of a particular crop. If the seed sown is not of good quality, then the performance of the crop is bound to decline despite the best agronomic and cultural management practices adopted by the farmer. Thus, subsidy on seeds of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and Fodder @ 50% and that of ginger, potato and turmeric @ 25% is provided to all categories of farmers under this scheme to assist and motivate the farmers to use these high yielding and high quality seeds of recommended varieties and hybrids to raise the productivity of crops and income of the farmers. In the year 2022-23 an amount of Rs.7.29 crore were spent under the component. During the current financial year 2023-24, budget amounting to Rs.19.77 crore has been allocated to the districts.
(ii) Fertilizer: Fertilizer is another critical input which has a substantial bearing on the crop production. The recommended dose of the fertilizers is to be used to get the best yield as the lower and the higher doses of the fertilizer has a harmful effect on crop production. The higher doses lead to soil, water, and environment pollution, unhealthy crop produce and array of dreaded human/animal diseases and disorders. The farmers generally tend to apply only nitrogenous fertilizers in their crops due to quick noticeable symptoms witnessed by the farmers in the standing crop soon after its application in the form of green foliage growth which leads to imbalance of Phosphorous and Potash levels in the plant and soil affecting the production. Thus to promote/encourage judicious use of fertilizers amongst the farmers, the Department of Agriculture has a policy to provide subsidy on complex fertilizers @ 1000/MT with a budgetary provision of Rs.4.60 crore during current financial year 2023-24. In year 2022-23 an amount of Rs.1.85 crore were spent under the component.
(iii) Plant Protection Materials: The incidence of insects, pests and diseases has a large hindrance in achieving the targeted production of a particular crop. The pests and diseases if not managed at the right time can sometimes lead to catastrophe. Thus, to minimize the losses due to these pests and diseases, appropriate Integrated Pest Management (IPM) measures are required to be adopted to keep their population/incidence below economic injury level.
(3) Strengthening of Seed Multiplication Chain
There is a total requirement of around 10 lac quintal seed of cereals, vegetables, potato, ginger, garlic, pulses, oil seeds and fodder in the state out of which 1.63 lac quintal is arranged by the Agriculture Department to the farmers. Around 50,000 quintal wheat seed out of the total 90,000quintal wheat seed arranged by the department for the farmers is produced within the state on Government Farms and on the fields of the trained Seed Producing farmers of the state under the strict supervision of the Agriculture Department. Rest of the quantity of seed is either supplied by the Private dealers from other sources or the farmers use their own seeds. As, Seed is the most critical input for ensuring higher production and if the seed is not promising then the potential yield cannot be expected. Therefore, the arrangement of high quality healthy seed which is best suited to the local agro-ecological situation is an important task. The breeder seed which is produced by the breeder of the respective variety is multiplied at the Seed Multiplication Farms of the Department to produce Foundation Seed which is further multiplied either at the departmental farms or on the farmers field to produce the Certified seed under strict monitoring and supervision of the State Seed and Organic Seed Certification Agency.
At present, there are 36 Departmental Farms having total area of 464 ha out of which, 227 ha area is cultivable where high quality seed of Paddy, Mash, Soybean, Wheat, Seed Potato, Rajmash etc. is produced for further supply to the farmers of the state. As such, around 17000 Quintals of Foundation Seed of different crops is produced annually. The Government Farms are a very vital link in the Seed Production Chain and play a crucial role in meeting the requirement of the farmers of the state for supply of agro-ecologically tested high quality certified seed. There is requirement for expanding the Seed production programme in the state to curtail the outside dependency for seed and make the state self-sufficient in this regard.
In view of the above facts, it is very important to strengthen the State Government Farms for which timely arrangement of labour, farm inputs and the Managerial/ Supervisory man power is required for the year round activities of the farm so that potential yield of a particular variety of crop and good quality seed is produced at Government Farms to ultimately benefit the farming community of the State. During the year 2022-23, total funds amounting to Rs. 171.50 lakh were available under this scheme which have been fully utilized. In current financial year 2023-24 a fund amounting to Rs. 1.28 crores have been allocated to implement the component in the State.
(4) Strengthening of Laboratories (Fertiliser Testing, Soil Testing, Bio-control, Seed Testing, Bio-fertiliser and State Pesticide Testing Laboratory)
The Department of Agriculture has 11 Soil Testing Laboratories, 3 Fertiliser (Shimla, Sunder Nagar & Hamirpur) &3 Seed Testing Laboratories (Solan, Palampur & Mandi), 2 Bio-control laboratories (Palampur & Mandi), one State Pesticide Testing Laboratory at Shimla& one Bio-fertiliser Production and Quality Control Laboratory at Shimla. The Department provides soil testing facilities to the farmers free of cost and further recommends the doses of fertilizers to be applied by them on their crop fields so that the farmers can reap a good harvest as per potential of the crop variety by judicious use of fertilizers along with maintaining the soil health of the fields. The seed testing laboratories are engaged in testing of the seeds for various quality parameters viz. physical purity, germination test so that distribution of good quality seed to the farmers is ensured. The samples of seeds from the dealers are drawn by the Quality Control Inspectors/Seed Inspectors (notified ADOs) and sent to these Seed Testing Laboratories for evaluation of quality as prescribed under the Seed Laws.
Likewise, the State Pesticide Testing Laboratory is engaged in testing of Pesticide samples submitted by the Insecticide Inspectors under the Insecticide Act 1968, while the Fertilizer Testing Laboratories in testing of fertilizer/ micro nutrient samples submitted by the Fertilizer Inspectors under the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985. The Bio Control laboratories are involved in multiplication/production of Bio agents/ parasitoids and further release these bio agents in the field through demonstrations to augment the population of the native bio agents to build up their population to a level to keep the pest population below the economic injury level and reduce the burden of chemicals. Total budget provision of Rs. 43.25 lakh is there for the current financial year 2023-24.