The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) has allocated INR 2250 Crore for the FY 2021-22 for ‘Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture’ (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme. It aims at developing the Horticulture sector in the FY 2021-22.
- It will help in realizing the potential of the sector and also help in increasing Farmers income.
- The allocation for MIDH Scheme is significantly higher than the amount allocated during the FY 2020-21.
Key Points
i.Interventions by Government have helped the horticulture sector to surpass agriculture production in India.
- During the FY 2019-20, India recorded its highest ever horticulture production of 320.77 Million Tonnes (MT) from an area of 25.66 million hectares.
- As per estimates for 2020-21, the total horticulture production in India stood at 326.58 Lakh MT from an area of 27.17 Lakh Hectares.
- MIDH Scheme played a major role in increasing the area under horticulture crops.
ii.The major challenges facing the Horticulture sector in India are high post-harvest loss and gaps in post-harvest management and supply chain infrastructure.
iii.The sector will play a major role in meeting India’s demand for fruits and vegetables. India’s demand is estimated to reach 650 Million MT of fruits and vegetables by 2050.
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)
i.It has been implemented since 2014-15, the main objective is to ensure holistic growth and development of Indian Horticulture sector. It covers fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, mushrooms, spice, flowers. Aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo.
- It aims to promote growth through technology promotion, extension, processing and marketing.
- MIDH is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare
ii.Financial Structure – Central Government contributes 60% of total outlay, while the State government shares 40% (except North East & Himalayas).
- In the case of North East & Himalayas, the Central Government contributes 90%.
iii.Sub-schemes – It subsumes other ongoing missions/schemes of MoA&FW such as
- National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH), National Horticulture Board (NHB), Coconut Development Board (CDB) & Central Institute for Horticulture (CIH), Nagaland.
iv.Impact – Under the scheme, area and production during the years 2014-15 to 2019-20 increased by 9% and 14% respectively.
- It has assisted in making India self-sufficient in the horticulture sector, and has contributed in achieving the goals of zero hunger, good health and others.
Recent Related News:
i.February 13, 2021, India’s largest horticulture event, five-days long National Horticulture Fair was held on February 8-12, 2021 at Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru on the theme “Horticulture:For start-up and stand-up India”.
About Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW)
Union Minister – Narendra Singh Tomar (Morena, Madhya Pradesh)
Minister of State – Parshottam Rupala (Rajya Sabha, Gujarat), Kailash Choudhary (Barmer, Rajasthan)
