11 districts shortlisted for tomato production in Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL, (PTI): The Madhya Pradesh government has shortlisted 11 districts in the state under the one-district-one-product scheme to grow tomatoes, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Tuesday.

The chief minister was virtually addressing the International Tomato Conclave-2022 organised by the horticulture and food processing department in association with the Netherlands embassy here.

“Under the state’s one-district-one-product scheme, 11 districts are selected for growing tomatoes. The aim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers can be achieved by diversifying agriculture,” Chouhan said.

The state government is conducting activities in this direction by consulting agriculture scientists, food processors and exporters, he said.

“There is an immense potential in the trade of fruits, flowers, vegetables, spices, medicinal and aromatic crops besides tomatoes,” Chouhan said.

The chief minister further said that there are 11 agro-climatic zones in Madhya Pradesh, which is leading in the production of different crops in the country.

Madhya Pradesh has emerged on top in the country in the production of oranges and coriander seeds. It is among the leading states in the production of guava, tomato, onion, cauliflower, green chilies, peas, garlic and lemons.

The chief minister said that he himself is a farmer who regularly takes guava, mango and pomegranate crops and took 766 tonnes of tomato crop from a nine acre land. The International Tomato Conclave-2022 will prove to be an important event for enhancing the production, export, storage and processing of the crop, he said.

Addressing the event virtually, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said “To enhance the income of farmers, we have to make arrangements for increasing the production of crops and its marketing.” Madhya Pradesh leads in horticulture production and organic farming and the state has made a lot of progress in the field of developing irrigation facilities and agriculture production, he said, adding that it is also advancing in the area of food-processing.

Speaking on the occasion, Netherlands Ambassador to India Marten van den Berg said it is essential to upgrade farmers with new technology associated with the production of crops.

India and Netherlands have had a close friendship for the last 75 years, he said, adding that farmers will be benefited with the organisation of the International Tomato Conclave-2022.

Earlier, the state’s Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) Shailendra Singh outlined the schemes being run for the welfare of farmers in the state. (PTI)