- HORTICULTURE
- NATIONAL HORTICULTURE BOARD (NHB)
UNIT 7 – AGRICULTURE – PART 23
HORTICULTURE
Horticulture is a science, as well as, an art of production, utilization, and improvement of horticultural crops, such as fruits and vegetables, spices and condiments, ornamental, plantation, medicinal and aromatic plants. Horticultural crops require intense care in planting, carrying out intercultural operations, manipulation of growth, harvesting, packaging, marketing, storage, and processing.
India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world after China. They cover a wide cultivation area and contribute about 28 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These crops account for 37 per cent of the total exports of agricultural commodities from India.
NATIONAL HORTICULTURE BOARD (NHB)
It was set up by Government of India in April 1984 on the basis of recommendations of the “Group on Perishable Agricultural Commodities”, headed by Dr M. S. Swaminathan, the then Member (Agriculture), Planning Commission, Government of India, as an Autonomous organization under the administrative control of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
MISSION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF HORTICULTURE
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo.
Promote holistic growth of horticulture sector, including bamboo and coconut through area based regionally differentiated strategies, which includes research, technology promotion, extension, post-harvest management, processing and marketing, in consonance with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse Agro-climatic features; Improve productivity by way of quality germplasm, planting material and water use efficiency through Micro Irrigation Support skill development and create employment generation opportunities for rural youth in horticulture and post-harvest management, especially in the cold chain sector
Sub-schemes and area of operation
Sl. No. | Sub Scheme | Target group / area of operation |
1 | National Horticulture Mission (NHM) | All states & UTs except states in NE and Himalayan Region. |
2 | Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH) | All states in NE and Himalayan Region – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir |
3 | National Bamboo Mission (NBM) | All states & UTs |
4 | National Horticulture Board (NHB) | All states & UTs focusing on commercial horticulture |
5 | Coconut Development Board (CDB) | All States and UTs where coconut is grown |
6 | Central Institute for Horticulture (CIH) | NE states, focusing on HRD and capacity building. |