Lucknow: Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Horticulture, Agricultural Marketing, Agricultural Foreign Trade and Agricultural Export, Dinesh Pratap Singh held a virtual review meeting with the horticulture officials from his ministerial residence to speed up horticultural development and timely implementation of the ongoing programs. In the review meeting, instructions were given to achieve 100% targets for the financial year 2024-25 while providing maximum benefits to the farmers. He said that in order to benefit every farmer of the state, the construction work of hi-tech nursery should be completed as soon as possible and plant production should be ensured.
The Horticulture Minister directed to complete the construction of Center of Excellence for Dragon Fruit in Mirzapur district as soon as possible with the aim of increasing the income of farmers and promoting horticulture. Strawberry is a high value horticultural crop, by cultivating it in 01 hectare area, the farmer can get a profit of more than Rs 15 lakh, keeping this in view, instructions were given to promote strawberry cultivation in areas like Hapur, Mirzapur, Gorakhpur, Moradabad, Meerut and Rae Bareli (Sataun). Special attention should be given to increasing the cultivation of flowers in places of religious importance such as Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Prayagraj, Sitapur etc.
The Horticulture Minister directed to complete the construction work of Center of Excellence for Potato in Hapur and Kushinagar and Center of Excellence for Fruits in Saharanpur as soon as possible. Under the massive tree plantation program, tree plantation should be done on the land along the expressway in all the districts located along the expressway of the state and the survival of the planted fruit trees should be ensured. Instructions were given to ensure the use of the allocated funds in relation to the targeted programs in various schemes on top priority.
The minister, while taking information about the updated status of the high-tech nurseries established in the districts, directed the horticulture officers to ensure smooth operation of these nurseries. He said that high-tech nurseries play an important role in providing high-quality seeds and other facilities to the farmers. Apart from this, he expressed displeasure over the slow progress of the schemes and warned the district horticulture officers to improve the work. He also ordered to ensure 100 percent utilization of the funds allocated for the schemes.
The minister reviewed the updated progress of various schemes including Integrated Horticulture Development Mission, National Agricultural Development Scheme, Horticulture Development Schemes. He directed the divisional and district level officers to ensure that the progress of the schemes in their areas is increased within a week. He stressed that the Yogi government is committed to the interests of the farmers and any kind of negligence and laxity in this direction will not be tolerated.
In the review meeting, Director, Horticulture and Food Processing Dr. V.B. Dwivedi presented a brief outline of the priorities and flagship important programs / schemes of the state government. Agriculture Production Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary Horticulture and Food Processing, Manoj Kumar Singh and Principal Secretary Horticulture Department B.L. Meena and senior officers of the department were present in the review meeting. All divisional deputy directors and district horticulture officers participated virtually.
