Mango farmers in erstwhile Mahabubnagar hope for better days ahead

The National Horticulture Board (NHB) is implementing the CDP and Telangana State Horticulture Development Corporation (TSHDCL) is identified as the Cluster Development Agency.

Hyderabad: After being delayed for about three years, a Cluster Development Programme (CDP) aimed at supporting the mango farmers in erstwhile Mahabubnagar, is expected to take off this monsoon.

The National Horticulture Board (NHB) is implementing the CDP and Telangana State Horticulture Development Corporation (TSHDCL) is identified as the Cluster Development Agency. As part of the CDP, the mango farmers will be guided, trained and supported in pre and post production, post harvest management and value addition and logistics, marketing and branding.

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Accordingly, the NHB and TSHDCL invited proposals from different agencies to execute different verticals and setting up infrastructure for mango crop under CDP in Mahabubnagar district. Among the 12 CDP pilot projects across the country, the mango CDP in Mahabubnagar is one of them.

Though the programme was planned to execute in 2020-21, it got delayed due to poor response from agencies. However, Prasad Seeds Private Limited, a private agency has come forward to take up the mango CDP in the State, said an official from horticulture department.

As per the programme rules, the agency will have to support capacitating farmers / FPOs and their collectives, create farm-level infrastructure, adopting new and existing technologies, branding, marketing, and promoting export.

The programme will focus on all stakeholders in the Value Chain, including farmers / producers, traders, aggregators, agribusiness enterprises, logistic players, retailers, processors, exporters and other public and private service providers, the official said. The CDP will cover and extend all support to mango farmers in Mahabubnagar, Wanaparthy, Narayanpet, Nagarkurnool and Jogulamba Gadwal districts.

Based on the area of cultivation, the clusters have been divided into three categories of mega, midi and mini. The mango CDP in Mahabubnagar is categorized as mega (more than 15,000 hectares) and financial assistance for the cluster would be up to Rs.100 crore, the official added.