State to conduct horticulture census

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After human and wildlife censuses, Kerala is gearing up for a horticulture census, which will see a first-of-its-kind ‘headcount’ of all horticulture crops in the state.For conducting the horticulture census, the National Horticulture Mission (NHM) has sanctioned funds, according to the Agriculture Department. The census will be jointly conducted by the State Horticulture Mission and the State Economics and Statistics Department.“This is perhaps for the first time that such a census is being  conducted,’’ said State Horticulture Mission deputy director Sheela Joseph. "Earlier,  it used to be part of the agriculture census, so it was difficult to get specific data which the NHM asked from us. Currently we don’t have the data," she said.The census will cover a wide range of crops including fruit plants, vegetables and plantation crops. It will also cover agricultural aspects such as the crop area, production and productivity thereby providing a concrete perspective of the horticulture sector of the state.  Besides, the census will prove useful in chalking out schemes and applying for funds from the NHM, officials said.