To enhance horticultural competitiveness at the farm level by supporting access to knowledge, technology and finance, such as to increase long-term productivity and farm income of small land holders in an environment marked by changing market patterns and increased climate variability.

A.1 Enhance Availability and Adoption of Elite Planting Materials and Horticulture Technology Transfer
The main objectives of this sub-component are enhancing availability and adoption of improved true-to-type, disease-free, elite planting materials of horticulture crops by establishing a locally robust nursery industry capable of meeting demands for high quality and diverse planting materials; and supporting adaptive research and development, and dissemination of improved technologies to producers.

• Importing of true-to-type, disease free planting material (both root stocks and improved cultivars);
• Strengthening of post entry quarantine facilities and disease and pest surveillance;
• Establishment of HP Nursery Management Society , for establishing demonstration units, Bud wood banks, nursery production sites using modern techniques in propagation to ensure implementation as per International standards,
• Training and capacity building, Imparting technical training of International standards to farmers and officers, including study tours, workshops, vocational and academic training, preparation of technical advice module , etc;
• Adaptive research and development and dissemination of improved technologies in broad thematic priority areas (including development of Package of Practices for management of high-density plantations, pollination management, integrated nutrition management, insect-pest and disease management etc), establishment. The adaptive research program have been built on the existing technologies developed by the UHF and those sourced internationally

A.2 Promoting Climate Resilient Technologies and Adoption
The main objectives of this sub-component is to support sustainable increase in productivity of fruit crops, and promote the adoption of climate resilient, on-farm technologies.

• Development of new High Density orchards using dwarfing/semi dwarfing technologies.
• Replanting old senile and unproductive apple orchards by developing soil fumigation systems appropriate for hilly terrain and introducing alternative integrated soil management practices and services
• Scientific Management of Existing Orchard (SMEO) practices in the existing apple orchards
• Development of new minor community irrigation systems for storage, delivery and distribution of water to overcome variability during critical summer months in about 13000 ha. area.
• Formation of about 261 Water User Associations (WUAs), responsible for planning, execution, operation and maintenance of the community minor irrigation system; and fostering and capacity building of water users organizations
• On-farm integrated crop management (ICM) demonstrations is the core project intervention and is the main vehicle for the dissemination of improved technologies to the producers w.r.t demonstration and adaptation of location-specific technologies; technologies that meet the changing climatic conditions like low chill cultivars of apple, new dwarfing/semi dwarfing technologies; soil remediation; pollination management, soil test and leaf analysis ; IPM & INM ; cultural practices like pruning, canopy management etc.
• Establishment of two Centres of Excellence in the State at Shilaroo and Palampur in technical collaboration with international agencies.

A 3. Facilitation of Access to Financial Services and Building Financial Capability
The objective of this sub-component is to ensure that adoptee farmers have the financial capital to make the farm-level investments necessary to participate in the project and the financial capacity to do this in a responsible manner.

• Development of appropriate loan and insurance products and their responsible provision to farmers, in partnership with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and financial services providers. The loan product has been developed for High Density Plantation, approved by the NABARD.
• financial education and counselling to producers to ensure that they have financial resources necessary to make project investments through savings and prudent borrowing; use insurance to protect their key assets; and, are better prepared to prudently save and invest income generated from the investments. Financial counselling of farmers is being done the