Horticulture

In Ariyalur District the major Horticulture crops grown are Cashew, Mango, Banana, Tapioca, Tomato, Brinjal, Bhendi, Onion, Turmeric, Chillies, In total about 35,000 ha of area covered by various Horticulture crops in this district. Doubling production and tripling income of farmers is the prime policy of our department. Encouraging cultivation of traditional cultivars in horticultural crops, adopting Hi-Tech Horticulture technologies, promoting horticulture as a profitable and viable sector by improved technologies, encouraging farm mechanization and improved Post Harvest Management etc., paves the way for achieving the policy.

The strategies of Horticulture Department are to encourage the use of hybrid seeds and quality planting material in area expansion of horticulture crops, hi-tech cultivation, high density planting, promotion of cultivating high value horticulture crops in protected cultivation, use of micro irrigation, pollination support through bee keeping for enhancing the production, Integrated nutrient management, pest and disease management, farm mechanization and Improved Post Harvest Management techniques. The hybrid vegetable protray seedlings will be raised in State Horticulture Farms and distributed to farmers at subsidized cost to increase the area under vegetable cultivation.

The major schemes under implementation in Ariyalur district

Micro Irrigation scheme under Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

Micro irrigation is an advanced water conservation and management technology that improves water use efficiency by 40-60%. Irrigation is a critical factor for increasing production and productivity of crop. Since, Tamil Nadu has only 3 percent water resources; the State is keen to use irrigation water more economically and efficiently. Besides water use efficiency, fertilizer use efficiency is also ensured by applying fertilizers through irrigation water directly in the root zones. This irrigation technology minimizes the weed growth and reduces the labour requirement. Through Micro irrigation, area under cultivation is increased with available water leads in doubling the 150 production resulted in tripling of farmer’s income. In Tamil Nadu, Government has given big thrust to Micro irrigation and it is the only State in the Country which continued its support to provide 100% subsidy to Small and Marginal farmers and 75% subsidy to other farmers. This scheme is implemented with a sharing pattern of 60:40 between Centre and State. During the year 2017-18 a sum of Rs 808 lakhs is allotted to this scheme to cover an area of 1080 ha under Horticulture crops.

National Horticulture Mission

The main focus of National Horticulture Mission is to encourage horticulture crops cultivation among farmers. Area expansion of high remunerative horticulture crops such as Vegetables, Fruits, Spices and Condiments, Flowers and Plantation crops is being promoted with adoption of high tech cultivation practices. National Horticulture Mission is implemented with fund sharing pattern of 60:40 between Centre and State Under this scheme assistance was given to the beneficiaries to establish area expansion of mango, protected cultivation, and Pollination support through bee keeping, mechanization of horticulture, Integrated Nutrient Management, Pack house and special intervention. This year financial outlay of Rs 199.359 lakhs is allotted to this district.

National Agriculture Development Programme

National Agricultural Development Programme is a shared scheme between Centre and State with 60:40 sharing pattern. Mukkani Development Programme, Agro Eco System Analysis (AESA) based Integrated Pest Management for fruits and vegetables, Low cost onion structure are the various components covered under this scheme. During the year 2017-18, a sum of Rs.21.35 lakhs alloted to this scheme.

Rainfed Area Development

RAD aims at promoting Integrated Farming System (IFS) with emphasis on multi tier cropping, rotational cropping, inter-cropping, mixed-cropping practices with allied activities like horticulture, livestock, fishery, agro-forestry, apiculture, conservation/ promotion of NTFPs etc. to enable farmers not only in maximizing farm returns for sustaining livelihood, but also to mitigate impacts of drought, flood or other extreme weather events. Rainfed Area Development under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture is implemented with a sharing pattern of 60:40 between Centre and State. In 2017-18, an outlay of Rs.83.575 lakhs alloted to this scheme.

State Horticulture Farm:

Establishment of New state horticulture farm is under progress in keelapaluvur village of Thirumanur block at the cost of Rs. 200 Lakhs. The objective of State Horticulture farms is timely production and distribution of pedigree and quality planting materials of Horticulture crops to the farmers. These farms also serve as demonstration centres on the latest technology, farm mechanization, modern irrigation technologies etc., to the farmers. As a new venture, high yielding varieties/ hybrids of vegetables and flower seedlings are produced in protrays for distribution to the farmers.

Official Contact:

Deputy Director of Horticulture,
Old Collectorate Building,
Behind SP Office
Ariyalur.

Email : ddhalr@yahoo[dot]in

Mobile : 9443073157