Why in News?

• Information about the MIDH was provided by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare in the Lok Sabha.

MIDH:

• The MIDH is a centrally sponsored scheme for the holistic growth of the horticulture sector covering fruits, vegetables, root & tuber crops, mushrooms, spices, flowers, aromatic plants, coconut, cashew, cocoa and bamboo.
• Under MIDH, the Government of India contributes 60% of the total outlay for developmental programmes in all the states except states in the North East and the Himalayas. 40% share is contributed by State Governments. In the case of North Eastern and Himalayan States, GOI contributes 90%.
• MIDH also provides technical advice and administrative support to State Governments/State Horticulture Missions (SHMs) for the Saffron Mission and other horticulture-related activities like the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY).
• The Mission was started in 2014.

Objectives of the MIDH:

• To promote the holistic growth of horticulture sector, including coconut through area-based regionally differentiated strategies which include research, technology promotion, extension, post-harvest management, processing and marketing in consonance with comparative advantage of each State/region and its diverse agri-climatic features.
• To encourage aggregation of farmers into farmer groups like FIGs/FPOs and FPCs to bring economy of scale and scope.
• To enhance horticulture production.
• To augment farmers’ income.
• To strengthen nutritional security.
• To improve productivity by way of quality germ-plasm, planting material and water use efficiency through micro-irrigation.
• To support skill development and create employment generation opportunities for the rural youth in horticulture and post-harvest management, especially in the cold chain sector.

MIDH Sub-Schemes:

• National Horticulture Mission (NHM)
• Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH)
• National Horticulture Board (NHB)
• Coconut Development Board (CDB)
• Central Institute for Horticulture (CIH), Nagaland

Major interventions of MIDH:

• Setting up of nurseries, tissue culture units for production of quality seed and planting material.
• Area expansion i.e., the establishment of new orchards and gardens for fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
• Rejuvenation of unproductive, old, and senile orchards.
• Protected cultivation, i.e. poly-house, green-house, etc., to improve productivity & grow off-season high value vegetables and flowers.
• Organic farming and certification.
• Creation of water resources structures and watershed management.
• Bee-keeping for pollination.
• Horticulture mechanization.
• Creation of post-harvest management and marketing infrastructure.