Kurukshetraकुरुक्षेत्र

What the plan promotes

• ▸Paddy, wheat and sugarcane (cane) dominate cropping on 140,000 ha net sown area with 177% cropping intensity; district produces 52.02 lakh MT wheat and 54.24 lakh MT paddy and is known as the 'Rice Bowl of India', famous for basmati rice.
• ▸Dairy is the single largest allied opportunity at Rs 797.53 cr, backed by 121 veterinary hospitals offering artificial insemination and Haryana Government cash incentives for Murrah buffaloes and good milch cows.
• ▸Farm mechanisation potential Rs 260.19 cr against 14,878 tractors, 5,277 power tillers, 3,397 zero-till drills and 559 combine harvesters; state pushes custom-hiring centres via 80% group subsidy and 50% individual subsidy, plus laser levellers, paddy transplanters and direct seeding of rice.
• ▸Horticulture (mango, guava, peach, sapota, amla) with output 24,284 MT; 800 ha barren land can be converted to fruit crops and the district is under the MIDH (integrated horticulture development mission).
• ▸Fisheries development through the Intensive Fish Development Programme, aquaculture and SC-family schemes; freshwater rohu/katla polyculture flagged for extra income; PM Matsya Sampada Yojana gives 40% subsidy (general) and 60% (SC/ST/women).
• ▸Food-processing / food-park cluster: 145 rice shellers plus a proposed food park to add value to abundant local raw material; food & agro processing PLP Rs 264.73 cr.

Gaps the plan names

• ▸Farmers need to be linked to producer collectives (FPOs) and made aware of the benefits, with post-harvest infrastructure such as food & agri-processing units, regulated markets, cold storages and rural godowns strengthened.
• ▸Infrastructure is required to cope with deteriorating power supply so that farmers can tap renewable energy from crop residue and city waste/biomass; soil- and water-testing laboratories, seed depots and marketing centres are also badly needed.
• ▸Landless and lease/tenant farmers must be organised into joint-liability / collective groups so that credit and financial inclusion reach them alongside capital formation.
• ▸Village-level basic infrastructure gaps: clean drinking water, toilets (especially separate toilets and drinking water for girls in schools), irrigation facilities, roads and primary health centres.
• ▸Banks must curb high NPAs and defaults and draw up self-determined strategies to raise the low flow of term agriculture credit and non-farm credit, which lag other segments.