Horticulture Development Project

Himachal Pradesh

Horticulture has emerged as one of the potential sectors in accelerating the growth of State’ economy and augmenting farmers’ income. The nature has endowed Himachal Pradesh with a wide range of agro climatic conditions due to which there is huge potential for cultivation of high value horticulture crops. The Government of Himachal Pradesh is aware of the potentials for the development of Horticulture in the State and treats horticulture a priority area in the development plans. It is matter of great satisfaction that as a result of the pragmatic policies adopted by the State Government and the unequivocal adoption of the development programmes by the farmers, the State has achieved a transformation in the horticulture sector during the last fifty years.

The State has emerged as a leading producer of fruits and offseason vegetables but productivity level of the fruit crops in Himachal Pradesh is far below the international standards, due to various factors viz. (i) limited access to appropriate production technologies, including elite planting materials, leading to low productivity; (ii) lack of Crop Diversification (monoculture of Delicious cultivars in apple ) (iii) large number of old and senile plantations in many fruits (more than 40% orchards have passed their economic productive life (iv) insufficiently developed water management systems, leaving the State’s horticulture industry almost entirely dependent on rainfall in spite of available water resources; (v) challenging research system and extension services leading to inappropriate horticulture practices; (vi) high post-harvest losses, paired with low value addition, exacerbated by inadequate storage, processing, and marketing capabilities. (vii) limited institutional capacity for the development of micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) in agro processing; and (viii) curtailed access to medium and long-term financial capital. The sector also face competition from abroad because its domestic markets are open to international trade.

Himachal Pradesh Horticulture Development Project (HPHDP) represents a major shift in how the long term development of the horticulture sector can be supported through an integrated value chain approach. As such the HPDHP expands investments in production, processing, and marketing while improving service delivery. The project supports the modernization of the horticulture sector through the application of new technologies and approaches that will contribute to climate resiliency, strengthen the productive capacities of producers and their organizations, and facilitate access to markets and value addition for selected commodities. It will facilitate improved access to and use of financial services for farmers and agro-enterprises by supporting new product development and financial counselling.

Project Development Objective (PDO) is “to support small farmers and agro-entrepreneurs in Himachal Pradesh to increase the productivity, quality and market access of selected horticulture commodities.”