The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India, has launched a new programme for Horticulture Cluster Development to enhance the global competitiveness of the Indian horticulture sector. The National Horticulture Board has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of Cluster Development Programme as a component of Central Sector Scheme of NHB.
The Cluster Development Programme (CDP) is designed to leverage the geographical specialisation of horticulture clusters and promote integrated and market-led development of preproduction, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding, and marketing activities.
MoA&FW has identified 55 horticulture clusters, of which 12 have been selected for the pilot launch of the Programme. Based on the learnings from the pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all 55 clusters.
The experiences gathered from the implementation of the pilot phase will provide policy insights and field level learnings that will help in better implementation of programme in all horticulture clusters across India.
For the implementation of the CDP, cluster-wise Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) have been appointed based on the recommendations of the State/Central Government. This involvement of state government bodies through CDA will ensure institutionalisation of learnings which can be replicated in future for development of new clusters in the country.
Please click here for more details about the cluster-wise CDAs
The main objectives of the programme are to :
Financial Assistance will be provided by National Horticulture Board to the Implementing Agencies through CDAs appointed for the respective Clusters. The Clusters have been divided into three different categories - Mega, Midi, and Mini depending upon the area covered in the Cluster as given below :-
| S. No. | Type of Cluster | Area* of cluster (in Hectares) | Amount of Financial Assistance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Mega | More than 15,000 Ha | Up to Rs 100 Crore |
| 2. | Midi | More than 5,000 Ha to 15,000 Ha | Up to Rs 50 Crore |
| 3. | Mini | Up to 5,000 Ha | Up to Rs 25 Crore |
Cluster Development Programme (CDP) is designed to leverage geographic specialization of horticulture clusters for promoting integrated and market-led development of pre-production, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding and marketing activities. The implementation structure of the programme is detailed as under:
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