ADB Finances $130 Mn to Boost Horticulture Agribusiness in HP

The project will benefit 15,000 farm households in Himachal Pradesh. It will improve irrigation accessibility and water management in 6000 hectares of farmland. The project will encourage households who stopped farming due to a lack of irrigation facilities, impacted by crop damage, and many more.

Recently a deal of US $130 million loan was signed between the Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The main motive of this deal was to increase agriculture yield, easy access to irrigation systems and to promote agribusinesses in the horticulture sector, in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

According to the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, this deal would bring more profits to safeguard agriculture and improve the livelihood of farmers. The prime members in this deal for Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation, and Value Addition Project included the Ministry of Finance, for the Government of India, Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, and Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB.

Rajat Kumar Mishra emphasized upon benefits of this loan agreement. He expressed the belief that there are promising prospects for enhancing subtropical horticulture in the southern regions of Himachal Pradesh. Historically, these areas have heavily relied on temperate horticulture in the northern parts. This shift towards subtropical horticulture presents various advantages, including crop diversification, adaptation to the changing climate, and fostering more balanced socio-economic growth throughout rural areas in the state. By providing support to horticulture value chains, we can also elevate the subsector's contribution to the country's overall development and ensure food security.

Due to climate change farming has been rigorously impacted. This project will boost the agriculture sector, and increase the farm income of more than 15,000 farm households. Due to the unavailability of farm inputs, several farming households had to either limit or quit the farming practice. This project is to take place in seven districts including Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Knagra, Solan, Sirmour, Mandi, and Una, according to a government statement.

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According to Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, for ADB " The current initiative is an extension of a previous pilot program that received funding from the ADB's project readiness facility. This pilot program successfully showcased the production of subtropical horticulture across an area of 200 hectares. Additionally, it facilitated the development of a preliminary draft for the Water User Association (WUA) Act and the State Horticulture Development Strategy."

He also told that the project will benefit several livelihoods. Through a joint effort of State’s Jal Shakti Vibhag (Water Resources Department) and Department of Horticulture (DOH), they will try to improve and provide easy access to irrigation systems, develop proper water management strategies across 6000 hectares of farmland, build new irrigation schemes and boost capacity of WUAs for micro irrigation management.

The project aims to create a vibrant ecosystem that empowers farmers in the subtropical horticulture industry by providing enhanced access to lucrative markets. To achieve this, the farmers will be arranged into community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMAs) at the cluster and district levels. Additionally, a Farmer Producer Company (FPC), acting as the apex institution, will spearhead state-wide agribusiness development. It aims to bring profitability to 1/5/2018, II I/67997/2023 markets in subtropical horticulture.

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The FPC will take charge of crucial tasks such as devising business plans, promoting agribusiness ventures, and establishing valuable facilities like sorting and packaging centers, storage facilities, and collection centers. Moreover, it will provide essential support to the CHPMAs in effectively managing these facilities.

Furthermore, the project seeks to modernize both public and private subtropical horticulture nursery facilities, thereby improving plant health. It also aims to enhance the access of beneficiary farmers to information and communication technologies, as well as other digital agri-technology systems. These advancements will enable real-time farm advisories and facilitate more efficient management of the CHPMAs.

-Agriculture Post

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