‘Clean Plant’ program

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has announced to launch the ‘Clean Plant’ program. This program will ensure that the plants available to farmers are disease-free. 9 ‘Clean Plant’ projects will be started across the country, out of which 3 projects will be set up in Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 300 crore.

• Nine world class state-of-the-art CPCs, equipped with advanced diagnostic therapeutics and tissue culture labs, will be established across India. These include Grapes (NRC, Pune), Temperate Fruits – Apple, Almond, Walnuts etc. (CITH, Srinagar &Mukteshwar), Citrus Fruits (CCRI, Nagpur & CIAH, Bikaner), Mango/Guava/Avacado (IIHR, Bangaluru), Mango/Guava/Litchi (CISH, Lucknow), Pomegranate (NRC, Sholapur) and Tropical/Sub-Tropical Fruits in Eastern India.
• These centers will play a crucial role in producing and maintaining virus-free planting material meant for larger propagation.
• A robust certification system will be implemented, supported by a regulatory framework under the programme.
• Those who use technology for agriculture will be supported by these nurseries. Rs 3 crore will be provided for large nurseries and Rs 1.5 crore for medium-sized nurseries. Through these nurseries, 8 crore disease-free seedlings will be available to farmers every year.