Punjab budget 2024-25: Incentives for farmers to grow fruits, mushrooms and more, here’s what’s new in horticulture

As first reported by The Indian Express, the AAP government has also announced Punjab Horticulture Advancement and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (PHASE), a new programme for the horticulture farmers to “improve product quality and develop horticulture crop clusters.”

Cheema in his speech said: “In addition to various crop diversification measures, I am pleased to announce new initiative, i.e. Punjab Horticulture Advancement and Sustainable Entrepreneurship (PHASE) to improve product quality and develop horticulture crop clusters in major production zones for which suitable allocation has been made in the Budget. I am happy to announce that allocations have been made for schemes for the development of mushroom cultivation; for flower seed production; for exotic vegetables and fruit orchards.”

Shailender Kaur, director, Punjab horticulture department, said, “We have proposed an incentive of Rs 10,000 per acre to farmers growing new orchards using drip irrigation. They can grow any fruit but have to use drip irrigation. The scheme is aimed at saving the groundwater and increasing the area under fruit cultivation.”

The new horticulture schemes for 2024-25

Among new schemes proposed by the horticulture department for 2024-25 are: Incentivising farmers to adopt horticulture fruit orchards to reduce depleting groundwater, a proposal for obtaining assistance for post-harvest handling of fruits and vegetables with packaging material (carton boxes and plastic crates) and production of exotic and off-season vegetables under protected cultivation to supply the quality produce to consumers.

Kaur said that the new entrepreneurship programme ‘PHASE’ announced in the budget would guide horticulture farmers about the gap in the value chain and marketing of their produce. “The most common problem for horticulture farmers is the lack of knowledge on how to market and sell their produce. This programme will bridge those gaps,” she said.
“Another major demand of the horticulturists was assistance with post-harvest handling of fruits for which we have proposed to provide crates and carton boxes,” she added.
“The Punjab Agri Export Corporation (PAGREXCO) has also proposed to establish infrastructure for processing, marketing, branding and logistics for chilli, tomato and kinnow. In a major push for potato growers, the corporation has proposed a potato-integrated facility (10,000 MT) for grading and packing potatoes for making French fries, potato flakes/flour, etc”, she added.

Previous year’s announcements still on paper

However, a similar scheme announced by the AAP government in last year’s budget (2023-24) for vegetable growers is still on paper. The risk mitigation scheme ‘Bhaav Antar Bhugtan Yojana’ to ensure a minimum remuneration to vegetable growers was announced last year but hasn’t been implemented yet even as a budget of Rs 15 crore was allocated for it.

The proposal was the government will intervene to ensure the right remuneration to horticulture producers whenever market prices fluctuate beyond a certain level.

Kaur said the plan is to introduce the scheme for farmers growing potatoes, green capsicums, tomatoes and cauliflowers. “Whenever the market rates crash and farmers incur losses, the government will intervene and pay them a differential amount. But, the scheme’s standard operating procedure (SOP) is yet to be laid,” she said.

Last year, the government had also announced the establishment of five new horticulture estates in Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, Faridkot and Gurdaspur and an amount of Rs 40 crore was allocated for the purpose. Kaur said it has been decided to “first strengthen the existing fruit estates in Patiala (guava), Pathankot (litchi) and pear (Amritsar), then we will add new facilities such as soil testing labs for the farmers at the existing estates”.

The work on the production of flower seeds and financial assistance for mushroom cultivation, as was announced in the previous budget, has been started, she added.