Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC)

In News: The Government has launched a new scheme on Vegetable Initiative for Urban Clusters (VIUC) during 2011-12 as a sub-scheme of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for addressing all concerns related to demand and supply side of the vegetable sector, enhancing vegetable production & productivity.

Background 

• Vegetable Initiative for Urban Cluster(VIUC) was launched in the year 2011 with an approval of Rs. 300 cr for the year 2011-12. 
• This was dovetailed under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) to enhance production and productivity of vegetables and augmentation of farmers’ income along with assured sustainable supply of vegetables to consumers at affordable prices. .
• This initiative was proposed to cover one city in each State during the year 2011-12, which should either be the State Capital or any other city having a population of over one million. 
• In case, no city in a State satisfied this criteria, then other urban clusters closer to one million population would be selected for the purpose. 

Objectives of the VIUC 

• Addressing all concerns related to both the demand and supply side of the vegetable sector in selected cities. 
• Enhancing vegetable production and productivity, improving nutritional security and income support to vegetable farmers. 
• Encouraging establishment of an efficient supply chain thereby leading to employment opportunities and incomes for intermediate service providers, and safe, good quality, fresh as well as processed agri produce at competitive price for urban consumers. 
• Promote, developing and disseminating technologies for enhancing production and productivity of vegetables in peri-urban areas of major cities.
• Assisting States in addressing the entire value chain, right from the stage of pre-production to the consumers table through appropriate interventions. 
• Creating employment generation opportunities for skilled and unskilled persons, especially unemployed youth.

Strategy :To achieve above objectives

•  Baseline survey to assess the extant vegetable supply chain to city selected, identify bottlenecks and vegetable growing clusters, existing as well as potential. 
• Organize vegetable growers into Farmers Association/Groups. 
• Coordinate with public sector agencies/Municipal Corporations for making land available for cultivation, and for Farmers markets to ensure direct/transparent transaction of produce. 
• Identify/select Aggregators and enable tie-up with Farmers Associations/ Groups. 
• Coordinate with ICAR/SAUs to provide improved varieties of vegetable seeds/ seedlings and to introduce innovative technologies as required. 
• Addressing issues in the credit supply chain with support from NABARD. 
• Measures for production and productivity enhancement by adopting improved cultivars, production technologies using precision farming techniques, protected cultivation, micro irrigation etc.
• Primary processing, sorting, grading,washing, packaging and value addition clusters.
• Logistics from farm to market includingPost Harvest Management, Storage and Transport infrastructure,Aggregators for suitable tie ups in the supply-chain.
• Establishment of Farmers markets including Electronic platform for transparent transactions.
• Support to urban local bodies to promote Controlled Atmosphere (CA), static/mobile kiosks etc.
• Support to institutions/farmers associations/cooperatives/private sector for seed/seedling production, vegetable cultivation, INM/IPM, organic farming, GAP, capacity building etc.