Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the cutting-edge e-RUPI system at the Secretariat on Saturday. Alongside this, he unveiled four ambitious agricultural policies: the Kiwi Policy, Dragon Fruit Policy, Apple Post-Harvest Management Scheme, and Millet Mission, all designed to revolutionize the state’s agricultural sector. Additionally, the CM announced plans to introduce Flower and Honey policies in the near future
On Saturday, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the e-RUPI system at the Secretariat, along with four transformative agricultural policies aimed at revolutionizing Uttarakhand’s farming sector. The initiatives include the Kiwi Policy, Dragon Fruit Policy, Apple Post-Harvest Management Scheme, and Millet Mission, with significant investments aimed at boosting agricultural productivity and farmer incomes.
Kiwi Policy: A Rs 894 crore investment over six years will develop kiwi farming on 3,500 hectares, targeting 14,000 metric tonnes of annual production and benefiting around 9,000 farmers.
Dragon Fruit Policy: With an investment of Rs 15 crore, plans are in place to cultivate dragon fruit on 228 acres, producing 350 metric tonnes, primarily aiding small and medium-scale farmers.
Apple Post-Harvest Management Scheme: A Rs 144.55 crore scheme will support ultra-high-density apple horticulture on 5,000 hectares, with 22 Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage and sorting units, offering subsidies to individual farmers (50 per cent) and farmer groups (up to 70 per cent).
Millet Policy: A Rs 135 crore initiative aims to cover 70,000 hectares in two phases, offering substantial subsidies and incentives to farmers to boost millet cultivation across 68 development blocks.
The e-RUPI system, described as a fast, transparent, and intermediary-free digital payment solution, will directly deliver subsidies to farmers via mobile e-vouchers for purchases like seeds, fertilizers, and agro-chemicals. CM Dhami highlighted the system’s role in streamlining benefits and instructed officials to organize training programs to educate farmers on how to use the new technology.
Minister Ganesh Joshi outlined specific goals for apple and millet production, including the creation of high-density apple orchards and a major storage and grading scheme. He emphasized that these policies would foster agricultural diversity and significantly improve farmer incomes, positioning Uttarakhand as a self-reliant and prominent agricultural state.
Several agricultural experts and dignitaries were present at the launch event, including Vice Chairmen of various agriculture-related committees and farmers from across the state.
