Horticulture Cluster Development Programme

Key features of the programme-

• Horticulture cluster is a regional/geographical concentration of targeted horticulture crops, offering scope for specialisation in pre-production, production, post-harvest management, logistics, marketing and branding. 
• These clusters provide growth and development opportunities to stakeholders including farmers/producers, traders, aggregators, agribusiness enterprises, logistic players, retailers, processors, exporters and other public and private operators. 
• The main objective of the government is to promote the Agriculture sector in the country and to increase the income of the farmers by giving them a reasonable price for their produce, so the interest of the farmers should be paramount in the center of any programme/scheme.
• As per the Minister land available with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) affiliated institutions within the identified clusters should be utilized for the implementation of this programme.
•  The CDP will also create cluster-specific brands, while helping the economy, to integrate them into national and global value chains, thereby providing higher remuneration to farmers. 
• The CDP will benefit around 10 lakh farmers and related stakeholders along the value chain. 
• The CDP aims to improve exports of targeted crops by about 20% and create cluster-specific brands to enhance the competitiveness of cluster crops. 
• A lot of investment will also come in the horticulture sector through CDP.
•  It is a Central Sector programme implemented by the National Horticulture Board (NHB).  

Status of Horticulture in India-

• India is the second-largest producer of horticulture crops globally, accounting for approximately 12% of the world’s production of fruits and vegetables. 
• Due to its high remunerative capability, the horticulture sector has emerged as one of the potential agriculture enterprises that will accelerate the growth of the Indian economy.