Govt. to start Horticulture outlets in villages: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 22 (UNI) Kerala Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran today said the government would open horticulture outlets in all the village in the state in five months.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said the project was aimed at marketing organically cultivated vegetables in the state.

Mr Ratnakaran said as the state could produce only five lakh tonnes of vegetables against a requirement of 12 lakh tonnes, steps would be taken to increase vegetable production encouraging organic cultivation.

Admitting certain flaws in the functioning of government-owned vegetale farms, the Minister said effective steps would be taken for their efficient running.

He said the National Horticulture Mission had cleared a Rs 187.67 crore project submitted by the State Horticulture Mission besides allotting a grant of Rs 14.62 crore for Wayanad, Palakkad and Kasaragod districts.

Started in November last, the State Horticulture Mission was implementing various projects for the development of horticulture crops from production to marketing with the cooperation of the National Horticulture Mission, he said adding that the project was aimed at promoting cultivation of pepper, cashew, banana, pineapple, ginger and medicinal plants.

UNI CGV1810