Detailed mapping of agro-processing clusters to augment export, investment potential
Detailed crop-and-district level mapping is underway in Rajasthan to identify locations for 10 proposed agro-processing clusters, aimed at boosting export and investment potential.
The clusters are based on 10 crops in which the State has a strong production base: moong, mustard, soybean, kinnow, pomegranate, guava, orange, isabgol (psyllium husk), cumin, and garlic.
Seven of the 10 proposed clusters — guava, pomegranate, cumin, isabgol, kinnow, garlic, and orange — are being routed through the National Horticulture Board's (NHB) Cluster Development Programme (CDP); concept proposals for guava, pomegranate, and cumin have already been submitted, with proposals for the remaining crops planned for the next phase.
Mustard, soybean, and moong clusters, being field crops rather than horticultural produce, are instead being promoted through food parks, investment agreements, and other State-level schemes.
Agro-Processing Clusters and the PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana
An agro-processing cluster is a geographically concentrated set of food-processing units, linked to a shared basic infrastructure (roads, power, water, effluent treatment) and core common facilities (warehouses, cold storage, grading and sorting lines), designed to connect farmer-producers directly to processors and markets through an efficient supply chain. The Agro-Processing Cluster (APC) scheme is run by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) as a component of the umbrella Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY).
Key Details
- PMKSY was approved by the Union Cabinet in May 2017 as an umbrella scheme, with the Agro-Processing Cluster scheme as one of its components (₹6,000 crore was allocated across PMKSY's implementation period).
- Each cluster must have a minimum of 10 acres of land and at least five food-processing units with a combined minimum investment of ₹25 crore, to qualify for MoFPI's viability-gap style grant assistance.
- By early 2025, MoFPI had sanctioned over 75 agro-processing cluster projects nationwide.
- The scheme's rationale mirrors the cluster-development approach seen elsewhere in industrial policy (e.g., textile parks, food parks) — pooling common infrastructure lowers entry costs for individual small and medium processing units.
Rajasthan's 10 proposed clusters (for crops such as mustard, moong, and soybean, in which it is a leading producer) are precisely the kind of production-linked processing hub the APC scheme under PMKSY is designed to support, aiming to convert raw agricultural output into higher-value processed and export-ready goods.
National Horticulture Board's Cluster Development Programme (CDP)
The Cluster Development Programme is a central sector scheme run by the National Horticulture Board (under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare) that identifies horticulture-crop clusters with export potential and develops them holistically across the value chain — pre-production, production, post-harvest handling, logistics, branding, and marketing.
Key Details
- The scheme covers 55 identified horticulture clusters nationally; an initial pilot phase covered 12 of these, with scale-up planned to all 55.
- A designated Cluster Development Agency (CDA), typically a government or public-sector entity, is appointed for each cluster to implement the programme, with NHB providing funding and oversight.
- The programme's stated goal is to raise exports of the targeted horticultural crops by about 20% and to build cluster-specific brands to improve global competitiveness.
- Horticultural crops among Rajasthan's list (kinnow, pomegranate, guava, orange, isabgol, cumin, garlic) fall within CDP's ambit, distinguishing it from MoFPI's APC scheme, which covers processing infrastructure more broadly across both horticultural and field crops.
Seven of Rajasthan's 10 proposed clusters are being pursued specifically under the NHB's CDP route (rather than MoFPI's APC scheme), reflecting the institutional division of labour between the two central schemes: CDP for horticultural crop clusters aimed at exports, and APC/PMKSY for broader agro-processing infrastructure.
- Rajasthan is developing 10 agro-processing clusters: moong, mustard, soybean, kinnow, pomegranate, guava, orange, isabgol, cumin, and garlic.
- Seven of the 10 (guava, pomegranate, cumin, isabgol, kinnow, garlic, orange) are proposed under NHB's Cluster Development Programme (CDP), which covers 55 horticulture clusters nationally.
- PM Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), approved May 2017, is the umbrella scheme under which MoFPI's Agro-Processing Cluster component operates, with ₹6,000 crore allocated overall.
- Minimum requirement for an MoFPI-backed Agro-Processing Cluster: 10 acres of land, at least 5 food-processing units, and combined investment of ₹25 crore.
- Rajasthan ranks first nationally in production of mustard, guar, and isabgol.