DEHRADUN: Over 3,500 employees under the horticulture department went on a half-day strike at all the 13 district offices of the department on Tuesday. The protestors want the government to roll back its decision of merging the horticulture department with the agriculture department.The state government had made an announcement in this regard recently wherein the merger is stated to help the government to implement policies and schemes in an efficient way. The move is in sync with states like Maharashtra where the clubbing of both the departments have already taken place.However, the employees are saying that the move will spell a doom for the state as the share of horticulture in the economy of the state is much higher than that of the states where the mergers were done.Dr Sanjay Kamal , chief convener of Sanyukt Udyan Kaarmik Morcha , said, "The geography, topography and environment of Uttarakhand are different than those states where horticulture has been merged with agriculture. The contribution of the horticulture department vis-a-vis the agriculture department in the state's economy is substantial when compared with the other states. It will be a major blunder to combine these two departments following the footsteps of other states."Uttarakhand has around 2.8 lakh hectares of land in which horticulture is practiced and the year-on-year productivity as well as the cultivation area has been increasing. Moreover, a large numbers of people are switching their source of livelihood from cultivating traditional crops to cultivation of cash crops, say agitators.The state is at the lead position in the country in production of pear (0.79 lakh MT) followed by second position in production of walnut (0.19 lakh MT) after J&K."We have made our mark in the country-wide position because of proper support and guidance from the horticulture department and if it is merged with the agriculture department we are afraid that the sector will also meet the fate like traditional crop growers in other states who are committing suicide," said Narendera Rawat, member of Kisan Morcha Sangh, Purola in Uttarkashi.The protestors also handed over a memorandum to the district magistrates and have threatened to intensify their agitation if their demands are ignored by the government.

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