Cottage and small scale industries in Himachal Pradesh

Introduction:

The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) sector accounts for about 45% of the manufacturing output and 40 % of the total exports of the country. Himachal Pradesh has made a significant achievement in the field of industrialization in the past few years. With the ushering in of the liberalized economy and notification of special package of incentives for the state, the flow of investment has resulted in a a very good response for setting up new industrial ventures in the state. The forth census report on SSI (MSME) published by the Government of Himachal Pradesh was considered to study the profile of the small scale industries.

At the time of its formation, there was virtually no industry in the State of Himachal Pradesh except a few Industrial establishments such as Mohan Meakins and Nahan Foundry. Initially industrialization in the State was aimed at developing and up-dating the existing traditional skills and arts in the cottage and tiny sectors through handlooms and handicrafts. The main object in the policy was to utilize traditional skills of local populace and to raise their standards of living. Even in the 70's the State had very little modern manufacturing industries.

Concentration of Industry :

Industrial development in the state has been uneven. The periphery distt. of Solan, Sirmaur, Kangra, Una are comparatively better developed. About 60 % of the total and 95 % of the large and medium units are concentrated in these distt. On the other hand inner distt. Of Bilaspur, Chamba, Hamirpur, Kullu, Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti, Mandi, Shimla have been categorised as backward distt. And account for 40 % of the total industries.

Horticulture based Industeries :

Fruit based industries such as Jems, Jelly, Sauce, shake, drinks are developing in Himachal. Himachal is known to be a fruit basket Due to skilled manpower deficiency, poor cold storage facilities, inefficient post harvest management and minimal technological interventions, contributes only small market of the fruit processing industry. In Rent years with the creation of adequate specialized cold storage facilities, logistics infrastructure, skilled manpower and modern technological interventions, minimization of post harvest resulting in higher returns to the major stakeholders of the entire fruit supply chain i.e. farmers and the consumers.

With a view to increase the productivity, quality and boost the market strategy in the State, Himachal Pradesh Government has announced a Rs. 1134 crore ambitious horticulture development project with the help of World Bank.

Vegetable based industries

Vegetables consist of a large group of plants consumed as food. Perishable when fresh but able to be preserved by a number of processing methods, they are excellent sources of certain minerals and vitamins and are often the main source of dietary fibre. Also Himachal is proving its potential in growing off season vegetables which are on high demand provide additional income to farmers.Solan and sirmaur distt are making contribution in growing vegetables consist of a large group of plants consumed as food. Himachal Pradesh Government claims the diversification of crops has transformed the rural economy and economic growth of the state as the farming community is adopting new cropping pattern that has boosted the off-season vegetables in the state.
Himachal has already earned a name “the fruit bowl of the country” and now, the state is fast emerging as a ‘Natural Glass House’ of the country in the production of vegetables.The vegetable crops are grown in Himachal ranging from the Shiwalik foot hills to High Alpine Zone up to 4000 meters above sea level.
Returns of off-season vegetable cultivation are higher as compared to traditional cereal crops. The farming community shifted its focus from just cereal crops and are growing off-season vegetables like tomato, capsicum, green peas, beans, cabbage, cauliflower, and cucumber.As per the official report, the traditional crops only provide a net return of Rs. 8000 to Rs. 10,000 per hectare to farmers. However, currently, the vegetable growers are fetching h net return of Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 100,000 per hectare from off-season vegetables.The report further said 3050 poly houses covering an area of 5.50 lakh square meter have been set up under ‘Dr. Y.S. Parmar Kisan Swarojgar Yojana’.
A Rs. 321 crore ‘Crop Diversification Promotion Project ‘ has provided irrigation facility for additional 935 hectares. About 1300 hectare command area has also been brought under irrigation under ‘Rajiv Gandhi Micro-Irrigation Scheme’.The farmers are provided subsidized materials and high yielding hybrids of vegetables. The micro irrigation system and organic farming were promoted.To increase the production level A ‘Centre of Excellence’ for vegetable nursery production has also been established at Jubberhati in Shimla district and two more such centers are being set–up at Solan and Mandi districts.
Mushroom growing & canning: The climate of Himachal Pradesh is very conducive for the cultivation of mushroom. Solan district is most suited for growing mushroom. As an ancillary horticulture activity, cultivation of mushroom is also being promoted by the Govt. in the state. Directorate of National Mushroom Research & Training Centre located at Chambaghat, Solan is looking after the training needs of the entrepreneurs willing to grow mushroom. Beside this department of horticulture is also actively engaged in the promotion of mushroom cultivation. Pasteurized compost for mushroom production is produced at two departmental mushroom development projects located at Chambaghat & Palampur and distributed to the mushroom growers. 5993 MT of Mushroom was produced in the State during the year 2010-11. On account of its nutritional value the demand of this product is good in the State as well as outside the State. Hence, there is good scope of mushroom growing and canning. Canned mushroom can be marketed in any part of the Country.

Forest based Industries :

State is endowed with nature’s treasure like valuable herbs, plants, flowers etc. Some of these herbs/plants available in the state are guchhi, Tej Patta, Patish, Banbakari, Dhoop Roots, Bharami, Katha etc.This treasure is presently being drained out of the state at a very cheap price. Hence, there is a good scope of processing of these herbs/ shurbs and making medicines out of it within the State these herbs are used for making Ayurvedic medicines. At present there are 3 Ayurvedic pharmacies one each at Joginder Nagar in distt. Mandi, Majara in distt. Sirmour and Paprola in district Kangra. These pharmacies are manufacturing some classical medicines which are supplied to health institution of the state. In order to cultivate propagate and conserve the herbal wealth, the department of Ayurveda Himachal Paradesh is planning to revive its three herbal gardens i.e. Dumreda (Shimla), Neri in (Hamirpur) and Jogindernager in district Mandi. The fourth herbal garden in Jungle Jhalera in district Bilaspur has been started recently with the financial assistance of the National Medicinal Board. Under these projects there is planning to develop good quality plant materials/seeds and to promote contract farming by encouraging the inhabitants of the areas to produce the precious plants.

Bamboo industry : Despite a significant contribution to the economy, the bamboo industry in remains underdeveloped. In terms of policy, bamboo is also often overlooked, with most attention focused on timber.
For centuries, bamboo has been used for construction, housing, household items and handicrafts. It is a ‘no-fuss’ species that grows rapidly compared to timber, is highly adaptable to various types of soils, and is relatively easy to process. The industry provides livelihoods for hundreds of thousands of people.Kangra distt. has vast area under bamboo and bamboo industry is mainly concentrated in the periphery of area. Furniture, hand crafts, storage containers ( Tokri ) are made from bamboo.
A National Bamboo Mission (NBM) under Centrally Sponsored Scheme-Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) is being implemented in Himachal Pradesh since 2006-07. The major focus of the bamboo development project in Himachal Pradesh, over the 11th Plan, primarily remained on strengthening the bamboo resource base in the State by way of (a) planting bamboo on forest lands, (b) encouraging bamboo planting on non-forest areas- mainly private lands, and (c) improving the existing bamboo stork through cultural operations, The project made significant achievement under these components. In addition, the project over the five year period helped in building capacity of the field staff in mass multiplication of bamboo in nurseries and in managing the natural bamboo forests. Hence the many more industries will grow in this field and provide more employment.

Sericulture:

Sericulture is emerging as one of the important cottage industry in the state. This is providing subsidiary employment to the farmers and also supplementing their income by way of rearing silkworms for production of silk cocoons. The Government of Himachal Pradesh has given high priority to the development of sericulture industry because it has a great potential to raise the income level of small and marginal farmers. The state has suitable climate for blvoltine mulberry sericulture. Sericulture is eco-friendly occupations, which requires no energy and take minimum gestation period and less investment. It is ideally suited to the rural areas and can go a long way in solving unemployment problem to some extent. The state comes in bivoltine region where silkworms are reared twice in a year. This subsidiary occupation is providing employment to about 9000 rural families for supplementing their income by rearing silk-worms and selling cocoons. In the State seven Sericulture divisions viz. Ghumarwin, Mandi, Palampur, Dehra, Nadaun, Dhaulkuan, Shimla under which 72 sericulture centre, 85 departmental mulberry farms and 28 mulberry nurseries are functioning. These sericulture centers conduct incubation of silkworm eggs, young age rearing and distribute chawki-reared silkworms to the farmers for late age rearing for production of silk cocoons. Besides distributing mulberry saplings and providing technical guidance to the Seri-culturists. Currently sericulture is spread over in about 1928 villages and its major concentration is in the district Bilaspur, Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Una and Sirmaur, Total eight silk reeling units one in Govt. Sector at Nurpur (Kangra) and seven under private sector have been set up in district Kangra (3), Hamirpur (1), Mandi (1) and Bilaspur (2).

Poultry :

Poultry development provides employment both in rural as well as in urban areas, and supplies nutritive food to the consumer in the form of meat, eggs and manure for use in the field. Poultry farming have quick returns from the investment and well-distributed turnover throughout the year. It has helped the establishment of poultry as an industry in the State. The total poultry population in the State of Himachal Pradesh as per 2007 census has been approximately 809546.

Dairy products:

Rearing of livestock is another important activity of the farmers of the state. With the increase in urban population, demand for milk and milk based products are increasing day by day, as a result farmers are motivated to rear cross breed cows and buffalos. During the year 2012-13 around 1138.612 thousand tones of milk was produced in the state. H.P. Milk Federation is playing an important role in marketing and processing the rural milk through 822 rural milk societies including 185 women Dairy Cooperative. The surplus milk collected through these societies is processed in five milk processing plants run by the HIMFED. At present the H.P. Milkfed is running 22 milk chilling centers having a total capacity of 86,500 liters milk per day and eight milk processing plants having a total capacity of 85,000 liters milk per day. One power plant of 5 MT per day at Duttnagar in Shimla district and one cattle feed plant of 16 MT per day capacity at Bhor in district Hamirpur has been established and functioning. The average milk procurement is about 63,000 litters per day from the villages through village dairy cooperatives. The H P Milkfed is marketing approx. 20,000 liters of milk per day which includes milk supply to Punjab and supply to army units in Dagshai, Shimla, Palampur and Yol areas. The milk collected to milk chilling centres is transported to milk processing plants where it is processed, packed and marketed in sachets as well as in loose containers. Growing unemployment and increase in demand of milk has motivated many youths in the rural areas to adopt this profession as a good source of income earning. If these rural youths are motivated to form more societies, by giving easy finance and the available milk is collected in organized manner then there is scope for setting up few more processing /chilling units in the state.

Woollen Hosiery:

Except for 3-4 months of summer, the climate of the most part of the state remains cold. Hence, a great deal of demand exists for woolen hosiery like woollen shawls, cardigans, socks, gloves etc. Most of the demand of woollen hosiery is met from Ludhiana, which is a renowned centre for woollen hosiery in the country. Kullu district is famous for its Kullu shawls which are knitted mostly on handlooms. Looking into the huge demand for woollen hosiery from the inhabitants as well as increasing flow of tourists, this industry can flourish in the state provided some modernization is made and infrastructure is provided on the pattern of Ludhiana. Moreover local wool based units have been declared as priority industry in the state and special incentives have been provided for wool based units.

Packaging Industry :

Packaging Industry plays a crucial role, adding value to the various manufacturing sectors including agriculture and FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods ) segments. In recent times, with changing consumer preferences, the packaging industry has faced numerous challenges and adopted various upgraded technologies such as aseptic packaging, retort packaging and biodegradable packaging to enhance the shelf life of food products. Self Help Gropus, women in Rural areas started their buisnesses in packaging by taking orders from small companies.Printing and packaging hubs are growing in Baddi Nalagarh area.

Pickle Industry :

Pickles and murabba made from Mango, galgal, lingri, aaroo, plum, beedana, mushroom, carrot, cucumber, cabbage, ginger and many more are popular in the country. These pickles besides having nutritional value also act as food adjunct and appetizers and palatability to the food. Pickle production is mainly carried out by rural women using their indigenous knowledge in whole Himachal.This industry growing well in Himachal as the pickles from Himachal are so popular in the country.

In order to develop small industries, a number of new policies were adopted by the state government like providing various incentives such as cheaper power, twenty five percent subsidy besides easier credit facilities through the State Finance Corporation and the nationalised banks for establishing new industries. Also, land was made available on 99 years low rate lease basis and new industries were exempted from sales or purchase tax. Concessions were also given on charges for transportation of raw materials from the nearest railhead outside the state beside provision of other marginal benefits. These concessions helped the state in establishing industrial houses.