Gandhinagar : Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission will be formed to provide the benefit to the farmers of Gujarat. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani announced for the formation of ‘Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission’ (Horticulture Development Mission) in the presence of Minister of Agriculture R.C Faldu and Minister of State Jaydrathsinhji Parmar. The aim is to accelerate agriculture, horticulture and promote farming of herbal plants. It will also create employment opportunities through an increase in the export of such products. While announcing the formation of Horticulture Development Mission, the Chief Minister said, “Agriculture development has not attained its peak due to arid, semi-arid and saline patches of land in the state. Despite such topographical challenges, the state government has successfully organised Krishi Mahotsav, provided Soil Health Cards, initiated Sujalam Sufalam Abhiyan, implemented drip irrigation, started 7 Steps of Farmer Welfare, Kisan Suryoday Yojana etc thereby making Gujarat a leader in agriculture development and farmer prosperity.” Out of 196 lakh hectares of land in Gujarat, 50% i.e 98 lakh hectares of land is being utilised for farming. There is tremendous scope for horticulture development and farming medicinal crops in fallow and infertile lands. The state has contributed 9.20% to India’s fruit and vegetable production in 2019-20. 4.46 lakh hectares of land was utilised for sowing fruits with a total production of 92.61 lakh metric ton.
There has been an increase of 20 thousand hectares of cultivable land in the state. Regions of North Gujarat and Kutch have emerged as a hub for cultivating pomegranate, guava, dates, papaya etc. The Chief Minister stressed on the fact that arid, infertile and fallow patches of land have been successfully converted into cultivable areas in Kutch, Banaskantha, Patan, Sabarkantha and Surendranagar through various irrigation schemes introduced by the state government in addition to using modern tools, equipments and methods for cultivation. The state government has initiated the ‘Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission’ with an aim to double the income of farmers and generate employment through horticulture in infertile and fallow lands owned by the government. The first phase will include five districts namely Kutch, Surendrangar, Patan, Banaskantha and Sabarkantha. Around 20 thousand hectares of land will be provided on a 30-year lease in areas and survey numbers fixed by the government, to cultivate medicinal plants and horticulture crops.
