Horticulture census in Himachal Prades after 40 yrs

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 19

It is after 40 years that a complete horticulture census will be undertaken in Himachal Pradesh to gather a comprehensive and detailed picture of the sector.

The Common Service Centre (CSC), a special purpose vehicle under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, has signed an MoU with the state Department of Horticulture for conducting the census.

Information regarding fruit cultivation and other horticultural activities will be collected in the census to provide a comprehensive and detailed picture of the sector of the state. It will be the only source of detailed production data for floriculture, nursery, and specialty crops of the state and is of utmost importance to improve the horticultural economy.

As per the MoU, the CSC will assist the Horticulture Department to carry out the census in a systematic manner through the last mile network of the Common Service Centres in the state. “The CSC will develop an online platform to carry out the census and will organise training sessions for the enumerators to complete the survey within a year,” said an official.

Last time, the horticulture census in Himachal Pradesh was conducted in 1982. It is for the first time in 40 years that such a census will be conducted through the CSC in all 12 districts of the state. The complete horticultural land and activities will be covered under the survey.

Himachal Pradesh is the only state where 89.96 per cent population lives in rural areas. Therefore, agriculture and horticulture are the most important activities which provide direct employment to about 62 per cent of the total workforce.