A potato processing plant will be set up in Una district. The plant, which will cost around Rs 20 crore, will have an hourly capacity of processing 500 kg of potatoes. Horticulture will develop with digital technology, a provision of Rs 5 crore has been made for this. Like apples, litchi, pomegranate and guava will also be brought under the weather-based crop insurance scheme. 36 apple blocks, 56 mango blocks, 29 plum blocks, 16 peach blocks, 58 lemon blocks, 21 pomegranate blocks, 28 litchi blocks and 22 guava blocks will be brought under the scheme. 60 thousand gardeners are already included in the scheme.
Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu said that to encourage potato cultivation, the state government has decided to set up a potato processing plant in Una. For the first time in the budget, it has also been announced to set up state-of-the-art silos for the storage of wheat and maize. The CM said that potatoes account for 20 percent of vegetable production. With the establishment of the plant, farmers producing 54,200 metric tonnes of potatoes annually in 3400 hectares will be benefited.
Under the JICA project, irrigation facilities will be provided in 100 villages with Rs 154 crore. The government will give subsidy on agricultural equipment, for which a provision of Rs 10 crore has been made in the budget. At the same time, arrangements have been made to organize 1500 training camps, 4,000 exhibitions, 2,400 exhibitions to create awareness about the production of coarse grains, solar fencing to protect crops from wild animals. All government farms of the Agriculture Department will be brought under natural farming. Turmeric, ginger, arbi, jackfruit, sweet potato will be cultivated on 20 percent of the land.