While presiding over the high-level meeting of apple cultivation and kiwi mission at the camp office located at the Chief Minister’s residence on Thursday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that like Himachal, the farmers of our state should also become leaders in apple and kiwi production and their economy should increase. For this, identification of apple producing areas in the state, production capacity of the land should be ensured and availability of good quality plants to the farmers. He said that our farmer should also become an employer, work should be done effectively in this direction. For this, along with training the farmers, he also asked them to pay attention to making them aware and to ensure better marketing arrangements for the products.
The Chief Minister said that we have set a target of Rs 3,000 crore income in the horticulture sector by 2030, but to achieve this target, we have to focus on year-wise determination of production capacity. He also emphasized on cluster based approach in horticulture sector and directed to prepare proposals for cold storage in apple and kiwi production areas.
The Chief Minister instructed that we will have to work with a new work culture in the state. The officials should also assess how much benefit the state is getting from our efforts. The mantra of simplification, solution and satisfaction should be kept in mind for quick implementation of schemes. Action should be taken in the direction of moving forward by taking quick decisions on the works and not on hanging them. The Chief Minister said that there will be no shortage of funds for the schemes of horticulture development in the state.
Cabinet Minister Ganesh Joshi, Secretary to Chief Minister Vinay Shankar Pandey, Secretary Dipendra Kumar Chowdhary, Additional Secretary Ranveer Singh Chauhan, Director Horticulture H.S. Other officers were present along with Baweja.