$100 million loan agreement with ADB to increase horticulture productivity in India, will get this benefit

India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed a $98 million loan agreement to increase horticulture productivity in the country. The Finance Ministry said on Friday that the agreement will help in establishing disease-free planting material systems, increasing crop yield, quality, and resilience to climate change.

According to the ministry, "The Government of India and the Asian Development Bank today inked a loan of about $ 98 million on improving horticulture farmers' access to certified, disease-free plant material and better technologies aimed at giving major yield, better quality and climate resilience improvement for horticulture products."

The loan agreement was signed under the "Building India's Clean Plants Programme", by Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Juhi Mukherjee, and Charge d'Affaires, ADB's India Resident Mission, Kai Wei Yeo.

Speaking on the occasion, Mukherjee said plant health was critical for improving farmers' productivity. "ADB funding will promote plant health which is critical for improving farmers' productivity," she said. Yeo informed that the Project aligns with the Government of India's (GoI) Atmanirbhar Clean Plants Programme (CPP) and the focus of the project is enhancing plant health management.

"It will lead to the development of regulatory frameworks and institutional systems that can help implement the CPP for horticulture effectively in India. This would involve intense consultation with private nurseries, researchers, state governments, and growers' associations for its successful and sustainable implementation," she said.

According to the ministry, the project would set up clean plant centers with state-of-the-art laboratories for disease diagnosis, and would be manned by trained experts.