The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide a $98 million loan to the government of India to support its Building India's Clean Plant Programme. The Indian government's Clean Plant Programme aims to improve horticulture crop farmers' access to certified disease-free planting materials across India.

This initiative is expected to improve the long-term yields, quality, and climate resilience of horticulture crops in India. This will improve farmers' incomes and boost the horticulture sector in the country.

The Government of India and the ADB representative in India signed an agreement for this purpose on 29 November 2024 in New Delhi.

About the Building India's Clean Plant Programme

The ADB loan will start the central government’s Building India’s Clean Plant Programme.

The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare will implement the Building India's Clean Plant Programme through the National Horticulture Board and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

The Programme aims to enhance plant management in the country by providing horticulture farmers with access to certified disease-free planting materials.

Use of the Loan Amount

The loan amount will be used to target crops like almonds, apples, avocados, berries, citrus, grapes, guava, litchi, mango, pomegranate, and walnuts.
The government will establish dedicated clean plant centres to maintain disease-free foundation materials that accredited nurseries will later propagate.
The government will provide licences to private and public nurseries to whom the dedicated clean plant centres will supply the disease-free foundation materials.
These nurseries will further propagate these disease-free plants and distribute them to the horticulture farmers.

Asian Development Bank is a multilateral regional development bank based in Manila, Philippines. It was established in 1966 and currently has 69 members.

Also Read: ADB approves $200 million for Uttarakhand Livability Improvement Project.

About Horticulture

Horticulture is a branch of plant agriculture that includes garden crops like fruits, vegetables, and ornamental crops. In modern terms, it refers to the intensive cultivation of these crops.

Horticulture is divided into plants cultivated for food—Olericulture and Pomology—and plants cultivated for ornament—floriculture and landscape horticulture.

Pomology - cultivation of fruits and nuts, such as crops like almonds, apples, guava, etc.

Olericulture - the cultivation of herbaceous plants like radishes, carrots, turnips, cauliflowers, broccoli, etc. for cooking.

Floriculture -the cultivation of flowers and ornamental plants like pot plants, cut flowers, etc.

Landscape Horticulture - Cultivation of plants for landscaping an area, including lawns. It includes cultivating nursery crops like shrubs, trees, and vines.