The government will implement the Chief Minister’s Nutritive Vegetable Garden Scheme to enable women to produce fresh and residue-free vegetables in their households for their daily needs and to enable children to learn about plants.
To be implemented on an outlay of ₹95 crore with State government funds and contributions of the Union government, two lakh seed kits, consisting 12 types of vegetable seeds, will be distributed at subsidised rates in rural areas, Agriculture Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam said in the Assembly on Saturday.
One lakh terrace garden kits, with six types of vegetable seeds, will be distributed at subsidised rates in urban areas. With this, the area under vegetable cultivation is expected to be increased. “The required 50-crore vegetable seedlings and 400 metric tones of vegetable seeds will be produced in State horticulture farms and distributed,” he said.
An area of 1,250 hectares, in 2,000 villages where vegetable cultivation is meagre, will be brought under vegetable cultivation by enhancing soil fertility. Pandal structure will be promoted in an area of 638 hectares for cultivation of gourds and greens in an area of 1,000 hectares in all districts.
