Revitalization of Rivers in India Draft Policy - Isha Guru Jaggi Vasudev

Revitalization of Rivers In India
Draft Policy Recommendation
The most important feature of the scheme was that the funds were
released only in the second and third year on the basis of the survival
of the plants. Thus, the second year’s release of funds was made only
if there was 75% survival, and the third year’s, only if there was 90%
survival. All payments were made directly to farmer’s bank accounts.
The cost norms for each fruit crop were evolved, and it varied from
one fruit to another. Slowly, more varieties were added to the previous
lists and three-year cost norms were made available. The current list
consists of the following:
••
Dryland horticulture: Mango, cashew, bher, sitaphal, tamarind, awala,
jack fruit, kokam and few more
••
Irrigated horticulture: coconut, orange (both santhra and mosambi),
chikoo, pomogrante, grapes, peru, anjir, lime, supari and few more
••
Other crops: jojoba, jatropha, rubber, spice, medicinal, bamboo etc.
Before the start of the program in 1990, about 2.42 lakh hectares
were under fruit crop cultivation. Now in 2016-17, about 18.55 lakh
hectares are under fruit crop cultivation – an increase of 900%. About 21
lakh farmers have benefitted from the scheme over the years.
The horticulture scheme has helped improve the farm income
substantially. It greatly improved the economy of coastal districts of
Maharashtra (called Konkan) and there was a sudden increase in mango,
cashew and chikoo production. It reduced migration to Mumbai from
Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts. It also improved the economy of
Western Maharashtra (districts like Nashik, Ahmednagar, Solapur, Pune,
Satara, and Sangli). The local political leadership, through cooperatives
and entrepreneurs, developed forward linkages for storage and marketing,
including exports. Today Maharashtra is the No.1 state in fruit production.
A note on Maharashtra’s agro-forestry project through the
Employment Guarantee Scheme is available in Annexure 16.
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