The horticulture development includes four major interventions

• Micro irrigation
• Protected cultivation
• Crop demonstrations and Trainings.
• Management support (HQ IAMP Cell)

The horticulture interventions will be implemented in about 2100 tanks out of a total of 4778 tanks in 66 sub basins in 30 districts.

I. Micro Irrigation

Micro irrigation (MI) will consist of drip irrigation system combined with fertigation equipment. Sprinkler system will be taken up in smaller areas in Ramnad district(Lower Vaigai) under micro irrigation, it is planned to cover 11,069 ha at an outlay of Rs.110.00 Crore covering 28,000 beneficiaries. Per hectare project contribution will be Rs. 1.00 lakh for cost of drip and fertigation materials and equipment for vegetables. The farmers' contribution will be in the form of labor for installing drip and fertigation systems approximately @ Rs.15, 000/ha.

The project support will vary based on spacing of the crops. Since most of the vegetables are grown with the spacing below 1.2 m (4 ft), the project support for one hectare will be @ Rs.1,00,000/ha for marginal/small farmers. For banana, the project assistance will be @ Rs.85, 603/ha. In lower Vaigai sub basin(Ramnad district) for vegetables especially for chilies only sprinkler will be used with the project assistance of 19,542/ha. The actual area covered per farmer will be about one acre although it can vary depending upon various factors like availability and suitability of the land for MI.

II. Protected Cultivation

Under promotion of climate resilience technologies, construction of poly green houses and mulching technologies will be taken up.

III. Poly Green Houses

The poly green house cultivation is more suited to Krishnagiri and Theni districts of Pambar to Krishnagiri and Varahanadhi sub basins. In the polygreen house high value horticulture crops like capsicum, cucumber and flowers like Dutch rose will be cultivated. Under poly green houses, it is planned to take up 6000 sq.mts. at an outlay of Rs. 28.05 Lakh.

This programme will be implemented in selected sub basins ranging from 500 to 1000 sq.mt area per farmer. The provision covers the cost of erection of poly green house structure including material and labour costs of erection. The approximate cost of erection of 1000 sq.mt will be 10.50 Lakh, of which the project assistance is 4.68 Lakh. The unit cost will be fixed as per the norms in Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) as followed in the ongoing programs in the Horticulture Department

IV. Horticulture crop demonstrations

The focus of horticulture crop demonstrations will be on promoting diversification to less water requiring, high income and more market-demand horticulture crops like vegetables, fruits, spices and flowers. The demonstrations will cover an area of 45025 ha at an out lay of Rs. 90.04 Crores. The size of individual demonstrations will vary from 0.2 to 1.0 acre depending upon nature of the crop - about 0.2 acre for flowers, 0.2-0.5 acre for vegetables and up to 1.0 acre for fruits.

Based on the performance of the crop under demonstration and the income of the stakeholder, the farmers nearby will be enthused to take up the crop without expecting any financial assistance from the project. The required technical guidance will be given from sowing to harvest of the crop by the technical staff of DoH.

V. Capacity building training (IEC/CB)

Under this program, the farmers are provided with the capacity building aimed at increasing production and productivity. Village level training to farmers on crop diversification and laying of demonstrations will be given well before each season. This program covers about 13200 farmers at the cost of Rs.26.40 Lakh regarding dissemination of crop production technologies. Further to enthuse the farmers and to learn the key technologies/practices being followed elsewhere to reap good harvest, exposure visits (inside state/outside State) will be organized in all the 66 (50 members each batch) sub basins at a cost of Rs.66.00 Lakh.