NEW DELHI, April 11: The Meghalaya Basin Development Authority (MBDA) is one among the five top organisations allowed by the Centre to undertake cluster farming of specific horticulture crops in about 50,000 hectares of land on a pilot basis entailing an investment of Rs 750 crore, including government subsidy.
MBDA will undertake the Rs 52-crore “turmeric cluster project” which will be developed in West Jaintia Hills through this scheme. The district is famous for producing the Lakadong variety of turmeric.
Cluster farming is aimed at making Indian produce globally competitive and boost farmers’ income. Besides MBDA, Desai Agrifoods, FIL Industries, Sahyadri Farms, and Prasad Seeds have been selected for pilot cluster farming through a bidding process.
The Centre will give financial assistance up to Rs 100 crore depending on the size of the project under the recently launched Cluster Development Programme (CDP), which is implemented by the National Horticulture Board with an outlay of Rs 2,200 crore. According to the Agriculture Ministry, the cluster-based approach has seen an incredible amount of success across the world.
