‘Apna Pind-Apna Bagh’ changed the picture of villages, Punjab number one in the country in horticulture.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the Punjab government is continuously taking concrete steps towards promoting horticulture in the state and increasing the income of farmers. Under the guidance of Horticulture Minister Mohinder Bhagat, the state’s horticulture department is encouraging farmers to move beyond traditional farming and adopt crop diversification. For this, not only technical guidance is being provided, but financial assistance and subsidies are also being provided under various government schemes.

What did the Horticulture Minister say?

In the year 2025, the department has given new impetus to the horticulture sector by taking many important initiatives. The Horticulture Minister said that Punjab has consistently been among the leading states in terms of strengthening the infrastructure related to agriculture. The Horticulture Department has been made the nodal agency to effectively implement the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) scheme. Under this scheme, till now loans worth about Rs 7100 crore have been sanctioned to more than 30 thousand agricultural projects, due to which farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs have got huge benefits.

The effect of the government’s efforts has been that the area under horticulture in the state has continuously increased. While earlier this area was around 4.81 lakh hectares, now it has increased to around 5.21 lakh hectares. To connect farmers with modern technologies and motivate them towards high value crops, a state-of-the-art Horticulture Development Center is being set up at Ladhowal, Ludhiana, which will act as a holistic knowledge centre.

Launch of ‘Apna Pind-Apna Bagh’ campaign

Apart from this, the state government has started ‘Apna Pind-Apna Bagh’ campaign, under which fruit trees are being planted on the Panchayat land of villages. The income from these gardens will be spent in the development works of the villages. Under the National Horticulture Mission, financial assistance of Rs 1575 lakh has been given to farmers to promote fruits, vegetables, flowers, mushrooms and beekeeping.

To encourage flower cultivation, an assistance of Rs 14,000 per acre is being given, while 50 percent subsidy is being given on plastic crates and carton boxes used after harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Keeping in mind the saving of water and electricity, additional incentives are also being given to farmers doing drip irrigation and planting new orchards. Special subsidy has been arranged for small units of mushroom production.

Along with this, estates have been established in the state for various fruits and special centers are being developed under international cooperation to promote exports. Vegetable farmers affected by floods are also being given a part of their cost in the form of subsidy. The government believes that these efforts will strengthen the horticulture sector and farmers will become economically empowered.