Pune: Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday announced that Central govt will set up three horticulture facilities for grapes, oranges and pomegranates in Pune, Nagpur and Solapur at a cost of Rs300 crore under its clean plants programme. These facilities among others will offer farmers healthy saplings for production of disease-free crops.“State has shown a path to the entire country by producing fine qualities of grapes, pomegranates, oranges, vegetables, and other agricultural produce. Centre will help the farmers increase production and get better returns for their crops,” he said while attending an agri hackathon organised at Agriculture College in Pune.Calling Maharashtra the horticulture hub of the country, the minister said during his recent visits to various states, farmers came up with complaints of not getting healthy saplings. “Some private companies are also providing saplings that appear to be healthy, but when the yield comes, some bacteria or viruses are found in them,” he said.He said Centre will set up nine facilities across the country to boost horticulture production, of which three will be in Maharashtra. “The one in Pune will focus on grapes, while the facilities in Nagpur and Solapur will work on saplings of oranges and pomegranates respectively.” Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, in his speech, said state govt will provide the necessary help to winners of Agri Hackathon so that they can convert their innovations into successful start-ups. “Climate change has affected agriculture production, and the use of technology can address the problem.” Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and state agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate were also present in the event.
