Himachal Pradesh Sub-Tropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition

Project Design

Need For The Project

In Himachal Pradesh, more than 90% of the population reside in rural areas and more than 62% of the population is engaged in agriculture, but the contribution of the agriculture sector to the State’s gross value added is only 15%. This has been mainly due to the farmers moving away from farming as a result of low financial returns across the sector. Poor performance of the region is due to lack of irrigation facilities, low adaption of modern technologies, crop damage due to wild animal menace and limited market access

The abandoning of agricultural activities, inefficient utilization of irrigation potential, migration of youth population and need for crop diversification (apple alone comprises 79% of state’s fruit production) has necessitated the project HPSHIVA (Himachal Pradesh Subtropical Horticulture, Irrigation and Value Addition).

Project Goal

Farmer need better irrigation facilities, planting material and inputs to improve yield and quality. Hence, the project goal is to expand the irrigation facilities to farmers in a coordinated manner with the horticultural needs, to increase the subtropical horticulture production and supply climate resilient plants, to ensure profitability of subtropical horticulture production through value chain development of targeted crops.

Project Objective

Construct and rehabilitate water saving climate smart irrigation systems covering 6,000 ha of land that are sustainably managed by Water User Association’s (WUA)

Build the capacity of farmers to establish sub-tropical high-density plantation using high quality planting material with modern technologies that provide sustainable and profitable financial returns

Establish infrastructure managed by farmers via CHPMA (Community Horticulture Production and Marketing Association) to reduce post-harvest losses, value addition and to enhance market linkages

Project Outputs and Activities

Outputs	Description	Activities
Output 1	Irrigated area expanded and sustainably operated	Build or upgrade irrigation schemes with SCADA Support Water User Association (WUA)s to establish on-field tertiary water distribution infrastructure Transfer irrigation scheme management to WUAs
Output 2	Climate resilient subtropical horticultural production systems adopted.	High density plantation including drip irrigation, planting materials, horticulture input and tools Animal Proof Solar Composite Fencing GIS-based land resource mapping and land management plan establishment Digital Agri-Tech Services for monitoring of soil, water, weather, erratic climate risks, disease, cropping pattern and providing real-time farming advisories Training of lead/demonstration farmers and build the network of training for farmers through community horticulture production and marketing associations (CHPMA) & WUA Training on intercropping, beekeeping and organic fertilizer production and sales Training of extension officers of DOH & JSV Nursery Development and Training Research and study on climate resilient crops, climate vulnerability, PoP refinement & leveraging carbon credit
Output 3	Market access for subtropical horticulture farmers developed	Post-harvest Value addition facilities at the community level to support post-harvest handling, primary processing and storage, and packaging via collection centre and integrated facility Centre New and upgradation of processing units Formation of APEX body with CHPMA societies for business management, operation and marketing. Capacity Building of APEX body and CHPMA Market Development & Promotion by APEX body Establishment of Incubation and Training Centre (Centre of Excellence)

Project Readiness Financing (PRF)

PRF was a pilot project supported by ADB for an amount of INR 75 crore (US$ 10 million) to be implemented over a period of two years from December 2020 to November 2022. Department of Horticulture, Government of Himachal Pradesh (DOH) and Jal Shakti Vibhag (JSV) are the implementing agencies for the project where DOH acts as the nodal agency. The funds under the PRF facilities were supported to undertake advanced solutions which created an environment for subtropical horticulture development in the State.

The PRF has been successfully implemented. The main activities included demonstrating the project concept in 17 Clusters in 12 Blocks of 4 Districts covering a total area of approx. 200 ha with assured irrigation and 1081 farmers for pilot testing of four fruits namely Citrus, Guava, Litchi and pomegranate. Also, 200 Front Line Demonstration (FLD) have been developed of 1 ha each in various blocks (project area) to educate the farmers about the project (convergence with MIDH scheme).

PRF Clusters on Google Earth

Project Key Features

Project Duration

2022-23 to 2027-28 (5 years)

Project Area

6,000 ha (Phase 1 - 4,000 ha and Phase 2 – 2,000 ha)

Districts & Blocks

7 districts in 28 Blocks (Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Mandi, Sirmour, Solan, Una)

Farmers

15,000 Nos

CHPMA Societies

60 Societies

Horticulture Crops

S.No.	Crop	Percentage
1	Citrus	35%
2	Guava	30%
3	Litchi	15%
4	Pomegranate	10%
5	Persimmon	2.5%
6	Plum	2.5%
7	Mango	2.5%
8	Pecan nut	2.5%

Irrigation Scheme

162 (Functional – 35; Non-Functional – 20; New – 107)

Budget

163 million USD (ADB – 130 (80%) & Govt. 33 (20%) INR 1,292 crore

Executing Agency

Department of Horticulture, H.P.

Implementing Agencies

Department of Horticulture and Jal Shakti Vibhag