Major horticulture push for Tirupati with Rs 1,094 crore plan
In Short
The plan focuses on expanding horticulture crops based on farmers’ needs, local crop potential and market demand.
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Major horticulture push for Tirupati with Rs 1,094 crore plan
Tirupati: A comprehensive horticulture development plan worth Rs 1,094.35 crore has been proposed for Tirupati district under Rayalaseema Integrated Horticulture Development Plan (RIHDP), aimed at strengthening horticulture production, irrigation, post-harvest management and marketing in the region. The RIHDP will be launched by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman at Madanapalle on October 2.
The plan focuses on expanding horticulture crops based on farmers’ needs, local crop potential and market demand. In Tirupati district, the largest allocation of Rs 399.49 crore has been proposed for micro-irrigation, including drip and sprinkler systems, fertigation and other water-saving technologies. Another Rs 246.88 crore has been earmarked for demand-based crops such as oil palm, exotic fruits, vegetables and flowers.
An amount of Rs 112.43 crore has been proposed for increasing productivity through rejuvenation of old orchards, pruning, canopy management, mulching and integrated pest and nutrient management. About Rs 76.88 crore will be used for technology adoption, including model orchards, precision farming, smart irrigation, protected cultivation and farm mechanisation.
The plan also proposes Rs 54.43 crore for Good Agricultural Practices and quality improvement, including Integrated Pest Management, Integrated Nutrient Management, fruit care, fruit covers, traceability and certification. For market infrastructure, Rs 53.01 crore has been proposed for collection centres, grading and sorting facilities, pack houses, digital price displays and branding. Another Rs 52.96 crore will support post-harvest management and value addition through pack houses, pre-cooling units, cold storages, ripening chambers, refrigerated transport and processing units.
The plan includes Rs 20 crore for strengthening Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and startups in marketing, processing, logistics and digital markets. A further Rs 14 crore has been proposed for clean planting material, including quality nurseries, disease-free planting material and nursery certification.
Other allocations include Rs 9.38 crore for farm mechanisation, Rs 3.51 crore for awareness and capacity building, Rs 4 crore for micro-irrigation automation using IoT, soil moisture sensors and automated irrigation, and Rs 2 crore for IT-based technology packages such as GIS mapping, geo-tagging, digital farmer databases and cluster dashboards. Another Rs 45.38 crore has been proposed for other cluster-based activities. The RIHDP activities are proposed to be implemented in three phases across 16 clusters, 25 mandals and 184 RSKs in Tirupati district.
