Having witnessed a quantum rise in the production of horticulture crops in the last 10 years, the Orissa government now plans to ensure free flow of the produce and its efficient marketing.
For this, the state government has decided to identify clusters via mapping of areas that produce specific varieties of fruits and vegetables. This will help it focus on specific crops, with the intention of creating a streamlined marketing infrastructure to help farmers get better price realisation.
Through mapping, the government would create policy framework for inviting private sector into creating modern marketing infrastructure, particularly for horticulture crops.
At present, the identified clusters include maize (Nabarangpur district), cotton (Raigada & Bolangir districts), turmeric (Phulbani & Kandhamal districts), ginger (Phulbani & Koraput districts) and chili (Sambalpur district).
?We have identified a few clusters and are looking at more through mapping of the areas so that marketing infrastructure could be set up,? Mona Sharma, commissioner-cum-secretary, department of cooperation, Orissa government told FE.
According to National Horticulture Mission (NHM), the eastern state has become the second largest producer of brinjal and cabbage and is the third largest producer of cauliflower, okra and tomatoes in the country.
Orissa, since the launch of the NHM in 2005-06, witnessed a huge jump in production of horticulture crops to more than 11 million tonne (mt) during 2009-10 from only 1.3 mt reported during 2004-05. ?It is mainly because of NHM and friendly climatic conditions that the state has contributed about 5% of the total horticulture production in the country,? Sharma noted. However, modern agriculture marketing infrastructure is yet to come in the state.
An agriculture ministry official said the agro-climatic diversity of Orissa with its high rainfall spread across the four-month monsoon and a reasonably moderate winter help grow a varieties of horticultural crops.
Meanwhile, the state has emerged as one of the biggest rice producing state with estimated annual production in excess of 7 million tonne.
?The rainfall received from June to September from South-West monsoon is immensely good for papaya, spices like ginger, turmeric and chilly, and a range of vegetables,? a senior scientist with Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) said.
The state government data indicate that the vegetables constitute 79% of the total produce, followed by fruits contributing 16%.
?The state has not only become self-sufficient in production of quality mango, citrus, litchi, cashew, ginger and turmeric, but is also exporting fruits and vegetables to other states,? an official with Orissa agricultural marketing board said.
Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar recently declared Orissa as the best performing state in implementation of NHM.