Reviewing horticulture development programmes, he said the State could not utilise its share of funds from the National Horticulture Board for the last five years.

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister Thummala Nageshwar Rao on Tuesday directed officials of the Horticulture Department to focus on programmes being implemented by the National Horticulture Board and explore possibilities for making maximum use of its support for the benefit of the State.

Reviewing horticulture development programmes, he said the State could not utilise its share of funds from the National Horticulture Board for the last five years. He stressed the need for developing hi-tech commercial horticulture production clusters and cold chains as part of the effort for developing post harvest storage infrastructure in a big way. He wanted the officials also to pay equal attention to Central government schemes such as Oil Palm Area Expansion Programme, National Bamboo Mission and Sub-Mission on Agro-Forestry for development of the horticulture sector in the State.

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The Minister said companies tasked with oil palm plantation in the State should speed up their activity so as to realise the targets set for them. He wanted oil palm saplings to be made available adequately to meet the demand from the farmers next year.