Horticulture on the rise in Haryana

Chandigarh, Sep 22 (UNI) With the Haryana Horticulture Department taking several steps to encourage the farmers to diversify their crops, the area under horticulture crop has now reached to about 5.01 per cent of the total cropped area of the state as compared to 4.9 per cent in the year 2006-07.

''There is continual and steady increase in the area under horticulture crop in the state which is a healthy sign,'' Agriculture Minister Harmohinder Singh Chatha said today.

The farmers, he said, had been encouraged to grow vegetables which resulted in the area coverage under vegetable cultivation to 2,74,580 hectares in the year 2007-08.

The Minister said the farmers were also taking keen interest in replacing their traditional crops by other commercial horticulture crops such as flowers and spices which were more remunerative to the farmers.

He said a target of area under fruit production had been fixed to 40,410 hectares for the current financial year against which 36,375 hectares of area had already been brought under it till the month of August.

Similarly, total fruit production target of 2,75000 tonnes had been fixed for the year against which 1,13300 tonnes of production had already been achieved.

Mr Chatha said that the target of area and production under flowers for the current financial year had been fixed as 6000 hectares and 65000 tonnes respectively against which 2078 hectares and 2192 tonnes had been achieved upto August, 2008.

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