Horticulture Cluster Development Programme

Objectives

1. Address the concerns of horticulture value chains in an integrated manner to accelerate competitiveness in the domestic and export markets. subsidy for cluster development
2. Reduce harvest and post-harvest losses by developing/expanding/upgrading the infrastructure for post-harvest handling of produce, value addition and market linkages.
3. Facilitate introduction of innovative technologies and practices that will help to enhance the global competitiveness of focus cluster crops.
4. Facilitate the dovetailing of resources, including the convergence of various government schemes, to entrench stakeholders in the global value chains
5. Build capacity of stakeholders and enhance farmers’ income through cluster-specific interventions including brand promotion. Horticulture Cluster Development Programme

Key Features

Pre-production and Production

Support capacity-building of farmers and farm proximate interventions covering crop lifecycle, including planting material, cropcare practices and farm mechanisation until the harvest of the crop.

Post-harvest Management and Value Addition

Support interventions at the cluster level, ranging from post-harvest handling of the produce during transportation to storage, value addition and packaging

Logistics, Marketing and Branding

Support interventions to link cluster produce with consumption markets and seamless logistics for efficient evacuation, cluster branding and outreach in the domestic and export markets.

Coverage and Pattern of Assistance

The clusters have been classified into Mega, Midi, and Mini clusters based on the area coverage. The pattern of assistance for each clusters is proposed to be as under:

Cluster Category	Parameter Area* of cluster in Hectares	Amount of financial assistance admissible per cluster (INR in crore)
Mega	More than 15,000	Up to 100
Midi	5,000-15,000	Up to 50
Mini	Up to 5,000	Up to 25

Eligible Components

1. Pre-production and production

Formation and promotion of FPOs

• Capacity-building of Farmers/FPOs and Awareness campaigns/exposure visits
• Hi-tech nurseries and tissue culture labs and Quality control labs
• Procurement/import and distribution of quality planting material and Adoption and dissemination of Good Agricultural Practices
• Promotion of crop-care practices, including Maximum Residue Levels (MRL), INM and IPM practices
• Micro-irrigation, farm mechanisation and advanced farming techniques like such as precision farming, high-density plantation, and usage of drones etc.
• Adoption of new technologies and advanced farm machinery to enhance efficiency
• Real-time market intelligence, IT/digital innovations, IoT infrastructure, traceability block chains, remote sensing, weather station and farm management software, etc.
• evelopment and dissemination of IEC material
• Technical assistance from various national and international organisations/universities/other institutes
• Any other activity/components required within the vertical for holistic cluster development

Post-harvest management and Value

• • Establishment/expansion/modernisation of cluster-level such as including collection centres, reefer vans, integrated/pack-house, ripening chambers, pre-cooling units, cold rooms, primary processing and value addition
• Cold storage infrastructure including multi/temperature-controlled atmosphere cold storages and other related utilities
• Packaging standards and other ancillary facilities required for post-harvest handling of produce
• Other utilities/ancillaries and material handling equipment related to the project
• Any other activity/components required within the vertical for holistic cluster development

Logistics, marketing and branding

• Development of transport, cold chain and other logistic infrastructure from farm gate to the domestic market and up to the exit point for export markets
• Appropriate packing, storage and material handling infrastructure to promote the use of alternative multi-modal means for seamless transport, leveraging dedicated freight corridors, Krishi Udan, Kisan Rail, inland waterways, etc.
• Establishment of market linkages in identified domestic and export markets
• Develop and promote distinct ‘cluster brand’ for identified clusters on common agreed values, such as nutritional and nutraceutical values of variety, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), food safety and environmental sustainability, among others
• Leverage e-commerce platforms and digital marketing to bring efficiency and use them as added modes of market outreach
• Facilitate the development of sea protocols for long-distance transportation
• GI registration, marketing campaigns (print/electronic), roadshows/buyer-seller meet, and product sampling in target markets
• Collation and dissemination of market intelligence with inputs on real-time market needs, including export protocols
• Other utilities/ancillaries and material handling equipment related to the project
• Any other activity/components required within the vertical for holistic cluster development