The Central Government launched a pilot project for cluster farming in the country, and for that, five private firms for the five crops have been selected to undertake the project on about 50,000 hectares of land for horticulture. The companies are intended to receive an investment of Rs. 750 crore, including government subsidies. The aim is to make Indian produce globally competitive and boost farmers' incomes. The select crops in the pilot project also include mango, bananas, apples, grapes, and turmeric. And the companies, such as Desai Agrifoods, FIL Industries, Sahyadri Farms, Meghalaya Basin Management Agency, and Prasad Seeds, were selected through a bidding process. The timeline for completion and operationalization of the project will be four years.
It is to be noted that mango is considered the most suitable and affordable timber for hardwood furniture manufacturing. Cluster farming will increase its availability and help boost the industry in terms of meeting the increasing demand. The furniture industry experts say that currently mango timber is made available to the biggest hardwood furniture manufacturing cluster based in Jodhpur from the Poorvanchal region, which increases the input costs of furniture manufacturing due to the transportation of timber. Due to the high cost of timber, hardwood furniture has become unaffordable for the middleincome group, and they are forced to go for alternative solutions like furniture made from panel products. If cluster farming flourishes, the industry will have a great deal of relief in terms of timber availability.
According to the report, the Centre will give financial assistance up to Rs 100 crore depending on the size of the project under the recently launched central scheme Cluster Development Programme (CDP), which is implemented by the National Horticulture Board with an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore. Speaking with PTI, Priya Ranjan, Joint Secretary in the Agriculture Ministry, said the cluster-based approach has seen an incredible amount of success across the world. In India, the government is for the first time encouraging marketled development of the entire value chain of specific horticulture crops by giving financial assistance."
The government aims to develop 55 different clusters identified across the nation, each with its own specific crop. Initially, the pilot will be in 12 clusters with seven focused crops on a pilot basis. Under the CDP, financial assistance of up to Rs 25 crore will be given for mini clusters of more than 5,000 hectares, up to Rs 50 crore for mid clusters between 5,000-10,000 hectares, and up to Rs 100 crore for mega clusters of above 15,000 hectares. In addition to private companies, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), farmer producer companies (FPCs), federations, cooperatives, societies, partnership firms, proprietorship firms, state agriculture and marketing boards, and other public sector entities are eligible to become implementing agencies.