Himachal Pradesh government has decided to set up 4700 poly houses and 2150 drip irrigation or sprinklers units in the next four years.

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh government has decided to set up 4700 poly houses and 2150 drip irrigation or sprinklers units in the next four years for which Rs 111.19 crore Dr Y S Parmar Kisan Swarozgar Yojna has been launched the state. Scheme would help in promoting poly house farming in the hill state.

A senior government official said that under the scheme, 85 percent subsidy is being provided to the farmers to set up poly houses and drip or sprinklers irrigation units. He said that an area of 8.35 lakh hectare areas would be brought under poly house farming while 8.20 lakh hectare areas would be covered under micro irrigation.

Official said that under the scheme within two years 50,000 hectare area would be brought under preserved cultivation, for which the famers would be provided with subsidy worth Rs 5.4 crore. He said that additional 2 lakh hectare area would also be brought under preserved cultivation, for which Rs 30 crore budget has been provided.

In Himachal Pradesh 90 percent population residing in rural largely depends on agriculture which is being the main stay of about 70 percent of its total populace. Agriculture has almost 20 percent contribution in the Gross Domestic Product of the state.

The environment of the state is apt for cash crops like potatoes, unseasonal vegetables and ginger. In the current financial year state government has earmarked Rs 450 Crore for agriculture and allied activities.

Already the production of off season vegetables has gone up considerably. The production of off season vegetables has crossed 14 lakh metric tons which has ensured income worth Rs 2500 crore to the farmers. A provision of Rs 60 Crore budget has been made for production of offseason crops, especially vegetables during the current financial year.

In most parts of the state, due to tough geographical conditions water has to be lifted for irrigation purpose thus the state government has announced to grant 50 percent subsidy for construction of Lift Irrigation Schemes and Installation of Bore- Wells by individuals or group of farmers for irrigation by spending an amount of Rs 20 Crore during the current financial year.

In order to provide irrigation facility to the farmers, state government has also launched 'Rajiv Gandhi Micro- Irrigation Scheme' with an outlay of Rs 154 Crore over a period of four years. Through this project, 8,500 hectare area would be brought under drip or sprinkler irrigation scheme benefitting 14,000 farmers.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.