Complete hi-tech nurseries within 6 months: Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered setting up of 150 hi-tech nurseries in 75 districts of the state within next six months.

The nurseries will come up in the Krishi Vigyan Kendras of the state, campus of agricultural universities, research centre of the Horticulture Department for easy training of farmers in mordern day farming practices.

As per the estimate of Horticulture Department, the average cost of hi-tech nursery will be nearly Rs one crore.

To serve the dual purpose of boosting horticulture and improving rural livelihoods, the state government has decided to establish 150 hi-tech nurseries (which will be based on Israeli technology) under the MGNREGA scheme.

Under the scheme, two hi-tech nurseries are being developed in each district to grow fruits like plum, pomegranate, jackfruit, lemon, mango, guava, moringa, dragon-fruit etc. and several vegetables as per the demands based on the local geographical conditions and surrounding areas.

The government seeks to grow quality saplings and seeds at the excellence centres as well as hi-tech nurseries to increase production of quality crops.

The objective behind the government's move is also to provide sufficient crops for the increasing number of food processing industries.

It is to be noted that the Indo-Israel Centre for Excellence has been established in Basti and Kannauj for fruits and vegetables respectively, so that farmers can get quality seedlings.

These nurseries will be equipped with infrastructure facilities like proper fencing, irrigation facility, hi-tech Green House among others and will be maintained through CLF (Cluster Level Federation)/ other groups of State Rural Livelihood Mission.

The plants produced from these nurseries will be sold to the interested local farmers, farmers' production organizations (FPOs) at the regional level, other private nurseries at the state level, at the national level for the plantation of various state governments and those of other states.

Chief Minister Adityanath has set ambitious targets to increase the area of cultivation of horticultural crops from 11.6 per cent to 16 per cent and food processing units from 6 per cent to a whopping 20 per cent during the next five years in order to enhance the overall yield as well as processing of fruits, vegetables and spices.