Madras, Feb. 23: A programme for large scale cultivation of exotic vegetables for export to Madras will be taken up in the Nilgiris under the Indo-German Nilgiris Development Project. Two cold storage units will be provided, one in Madras and the other at Ooty to store the produce when it is in surplus and to release it gradually so as to stabilise the price level of vegetables in Madras and avoid glut and distress sales for the grower at the producing end. The marketing scheme will be extended to Tiruchi and Madurai. The establishment of cold storages has been accepted in principle by the Government. This is one of the programmes aimed at diversification of crop pattern in the Nilgiris as the advent of the golden nematode pest and cultivation of potato in the plains in contiguous States like Mysore have made cultivation all round the year less attractive. Cultivation of cutflowers for export to Madras and other cities is also one such scheme to be implemented. Fruit development is another field on which attention will be focused by the IGNDP. Orange plantations will be established in the Kugal valley where these orchards once flourished and deteriorated for want of proper attention. Strawberries will be grown in 10 hectares, as a quick-yielding fruit crop and later extended to Coonoor and other areas.
