The Centre on Monday launched the horticultureCluster Development Programme(CDP) in order to promote the export of horticultural produce, identifying 12 out of a total of 53clustersfor implementation in a pilot phase.
The identified clusters for implementation of CDP in the first phase include Shopian (J&K) and Kinnaur (Himachal Pradesh) for apple; Lucknow (UP), Kutch (Gujarat) and Mahbubnagar () for mango; Anantpur (AP) and Theni (TN) for banana; Nasik (Maharashtra) for grapes; Siphahijala (Tripura) for pineapple; Solapur (Maharashtra) and Chitradurga (Karnataka) for pomegranate and West Jaintia Hills (Meghalaya) for turmeric.
Based on the learnings from the pilot project, the programme will be scaled up to cover all the 53 clusters in the next 5-7 years.
The CDP will be implemented by theNational Horticulture Board(NHB) through Cluster Development Agencies (CDAs) which are appointed on the recommendations of the respective state/UT government.