NCDC project for Uttarakhand to double farmers’ income

To double farmers’ income, goat, sheep farming, fisheries, dairy farming, aromatic plants, silk cultivation, herbcultivation, poultry farming will be encouraged. For this, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) will provide a sum of Rs. 3641.91 crore to Uttarakhand in three years. The programme for Development through Integrated Cooperative Development Project will be run with the money. The NCDC will provide grant of Rs.799.63 crore in the first year.

An effective action plan was formulated for the project with an aim to double farmers’ income at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh at Secretariat on Monday. Instruction were issued to double the farmers’ income by studying the capabilities in the entire state. The areas of herb cultivation, aromatic plant cultivation, Trout, Mahaseer fisheries, milk production and silk production have ben identified. These would be developed on cluster basis.

It was informed in the meeting that the Cooperative department will implement the project through 4000 cooperative societies and 30 PAX. A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be established at the state level and project director will be appointed. In the districts, DPMU will be formed.

For this a new initiative will be launched in cooperative collective farming, cooperative partnership and cooperative corporate partnership. It was informed that this will help stop migration from hills, provide direct and indirect employment to people, farmers will get market through
value chain and women will get employment at local level.

Principal Secretary Industry Manisha Panwar, Secretary Cooperative R. Meenakshi Sundram and other officers were present.