(a) whether the Government has any proposal for planting the saplings of Arabian
Dates under the National Agriculture Development Scheme in the desert areas of
Rajasthan;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has conducted any survey regarding the number of
dates saplings that can be planted in one hectare and the amount of grant per hectare
to be given to the farmers along with the profit per hectare likely to be earned by them;
and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES (SHRI TARIQ ANWAR)
(a) & (b): Under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Government of Rajasthan, is
implementing projects of tissue culture date palm plantation including demonstrations
on two government farms covering 130 ha in Jaisalmer and Bikaner Districts and
plantations on farmers fields covering 486 hectare in 12 western Districts of Rajasthan.
(c) & (d): No survey has been conducted in this regard. As per recommendations of
Swami Keshwanand Agriculture University, Bikaner, 156 plants of date palm are
planted in one hectare at 8 meter x 8 meter spacing. Government of Rajasthan is
providing 90% subsidy to farmers for tissue culture date palm saplings.