Andhra Pradesh State is planning to set up a biotechnology centre and turns to horticulture sector in a big way. It is a major thrust to setup a biotechnology centre in Hyderabad with a tissue-culture bank of a million strains of crops ranging from turmeric to banana, as also ornamental plants. The centre will also provide leaf, water and soil testing facilities. The centre is expected to be operational from September onwards. The Hyderabad facility is being set up at a cost of Rs. 3 crore. The horticultural commissioner of AP, said no other state govt. had this kind of modern facility. The centre would function on a "no-profit no-loss" basis and services would be made available to the farmers. A second centre, with pathological and bio-control facility, would be set up in the west Godavari district. This centre was also expected to cost around Rs.3 crore. It is further added that, the Andhra Pradesh cabinet has also given approval for the horticulture programme launched under Vision 2020. Under the programme formulated by the horticulture department, the acreage under horticulture crops is expected to go up to 2.5 million hectares by ’20 from the existing 1.3 million hectares. More stress would be laid on bringing mariginal land and rainfed land under horticulture cultivation. Horticulture, contributed around 11% of the state’s GDP. Under Vision 2020 this was expected to reach around 23%. Under the same vision plan, the state hoped to become the country’ largest producer of fruits and vegetables, besides being "numero uno" in food processing as reported by the horticultural commissioner of AP. |
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