Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH)

The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is an important scheme for the growth and development of the horticulture sector in India. Government schemes like this are very important for the IAS exam and other govt exams as well. In this article, you can learn all you need to know about MIDH, its objectives, mandate, funding, etc.

Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH):- Download PDF Here

What is the MIDH Scheme?

The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture or MIDH is a scheme for the holistic growth and development of the Indian horticulture sector.

• This Centrally Sponsored scheme covers vegetables, fruits, roots and tuber crops, aromatic plants, flowers, spices, bamboo, coconut, cashew and cocoa.
• MIDH also provides technical support and advice to state horticultural missions, Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Saffron Mission and the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).
• MIDH is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, GOI.
• The strategies to improve the horticulture segment employed by the scheme include technology promotion, research, post-harvest management, extension, processing and marketing. The scheme emphasises using differentiated strategies for different states based on the region’s agro-climatic features.

MIDH Objectives:

The major goal under this scheme is to promote the growth of the horticulture sector in India.

• The scheme envisages the aggregation of farmers into farmers’ groups like FIGs/FPOs and FPCs to:
  • Achieve economies of scale
  • Augment horticulture production
  • Enhance farmers’ incomes
  • Boost nutritional security
  • Improve productivity by way of quality germ-plasm, planting material and water use efficiency through micro-irrigation
  • Support skill development
  • Generate employment for rural youth in horticulture, post-harvest management and also in the cold chain sector.
• The scheme also envisages the capacity building of farmers in adopting improved technology through existing institutions such as Krishi Vigyan Kendras, state agriculture universities and Institutes with the Department of Horticulture in the States.

MIDH Sub-Schemes

The Mission includes the following sub-schemes:

1. National Horticulture Mission (NHM): It is implemented by the State Horticulture Missions and is aimed at increasing production in the horticulture sector. Know more about the National Horticulture Mission and the Golden Revolution in the link.
2. National Horticulture Board (NHB): It implements the various schemes under the MIDH at the state and UT levels.
3. Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States (HMNEH): It is implemented by the State Horticulture Missions of the Northeastern and Himalayan states.
4. Coconut Development Board (CDB): It implements the schemes of the MIDH in all the coconut-growing states in the country.
5. Central Institute for Horticulture (CIH), Nagaland: The institute was established in Medizipehima, Nagaland in 2006-07 for providing technical backstopping through capacity building and training of farmers and Field functionaries in the North Eastern Region.
6. National Bamboo Mission (NBM)

The following image shows the areas of operation of the MIDH sub-schemes:

Image source: http://midh.gov.in/

MIDH Strategies

The strategies adopted by the mission for achieving its stated objectives are discussed below.

• Adopt an end-to-end comprehensive approach covering pre-production, production, post-harvest management, processing and marketing to ensure appropriate returns to farmers/producers.
• Promote R&D technologies for cultivation, production, post-harvest management and processing with particular emphasis on cold chain infrastructure for increasing the shelf life of perishable products.
• Augment productivity through:
  • Diversification from traditional crops to plantations, vineyards, orchards, flowers, vegetable gardens as well as bamboo plantations.
  • Extension of suitable technology to farmers for high-tech horticulture including protected cultivation and precision farming. 
  • Raise the acreage of orchards and plantation crops including bamboo and coconut, particularly in states where the total area under horticulture is less than 50% of the agricultural area.
• Better post-harvest management, processing for value addition and marketing infrastructure.
• Adopt a coordinated approach and encourage partnership, synergy and convergence among R&D, processing and marketing agencies in public as well as private sectors, at the national, regional, state and sub-state levels.
• Promote Farmer Producer Organisations and their tie-up with Market Aggregators (MAs) and Financial Institutions (FIs) to support and provide sufficient returns to farmers.
• Support capacity-building and human resource development at all levels, including, change in syllabus and curriculum of graduate courses at Colleges, Universities, ITIs, Polytechnics, as appropriate.

MIDH Activities

Some of the activities for which financial support is provided under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture are as under:

• Establishing nurseries, tissue culture units for producing quality seeds & planting material.
• Area expansion i.e. setting up new orchards and gardens for flowers, vegetables, and flowers; and also the rejuvenation of unproductive and old orchards.
• Protected cultivation, i.e. poly-house, green-house, etc. to better the productivity & grow off-season high-value vegetables & flowers.
• Organic farming and certification.
• Creation of water resources structures and watershed management.
• Bee-keeping for pollination.
• Horticulture mechanisation.
• Creation of post-harvest management & marketing infrastructure.

MIDH Funding

The scheme is a centrally-sponsored scheme which means it is partially funded by the Central Government.

• The GOI provides 85% of the total outlay for the programmes under the mission in all states except NE and Himalayan states. The rest 15% is from the state governments.
• In NE and Himalayan states, the GOI provides 100% contribution.

Note:-

The National Honey Mission or Mithi Kranti is a scheme under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). It is different from the MIDH and its sub-scheme, the National Horticulture Mission. Know more about the National Honey Mission in the link.