Chhattisgarh developed cold storage capacity of 65,349 metric tonnes under the National Horticulture Mission during period 2009-10 to 2016-17, the Central Government has informed.

As per All India Cold Storage Capacity and Technology - Base line Survey (December 10, 2014) conducted by M/s Hansa Research Group, commissioned by National Horticulture Board (NHB) under Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, 75% of the total cold storage capacity in the country was used for the purpose of storage of horticulture crops including potato,it informed.

Out of total production of potatoes in the country, 75% was stored in cold storages for long term storage at farm gate.  Further, 95% of cold storages in the country were owned by private sector, 3% by cooperatives and remaining 2% were under Public Sector Undertakings.

Notably, the  Chhattisgarh Government will establish Multi-Commodity Cold Storage chambers for Horticulture and other commodities in five districts of the State.

The cold storages will be established at Mandi/Sub Mandi Yard of Raipur (TUlSI), Durg, Rajnandgaon , Bilaspur and Raigarh.

State Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal in January this year had stated that a master plan had been prepared to provide subsidy for opening of cold storages also by farmers.

The Minister said that he considers himself lucky that he got an opportunity to serve the farmers and always makes efforts to improve their living conditions.

He was addressing the members of Progressive Farmers' Union at village Khapri (Kumhari) in Durg district.

The Minister called upon the farmers to grow crops like fruits and vegetables apart from paddy and augment their family income.

State Agriculture Department, Horticulture Department and Indira Gandhi Agriculture University had been working in close co-ordination to improve the lot of farmers, Agrawal said.

He had appreciated the efforts of Progressive Framers' Union in spreading awareness of improvised techniques in farming.

Notably, the cold chain capacity created by the Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries in Chhattisgarh stood at 8500 metric tonnes (MT) till April 2015, officials stated.

In a power point presentation on Prospects of Cold Chain Infrastructure in Eastern Region on April 6, 2015,  the Ministry has spelled out its plans of taking up a total of 500 Integrated Cold Chain projects as per the modified pattern of the Central assistance during the next five years across the country to create capacity of 2.5 million tonnes.

The core objective of the projects is to make the scheme of cold chain value addition nd preservation infrastructure open ended, it stated.

Incidentally, on August 31, 2016 , Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh had directed officials to draw an action plan for operating a State-level ‘Food Processing Mission’  in the State.

Chairing a meeting of the State Industry Department at the office in his residence in Raipur,  the Chief Minister said that as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the State would run the  ‘Food Processing Mission’  while using its own resources.

He said that the State Government has made a provision of Rs 12 crore for launching the State-level ‘Food Processing Mission’.

Singh said that the launching of Mission would help farmers get better prices for their farm produce and also open new job avenues for youth in the Food Processing sector.

Officials attending the meeting said that Food Processing Sector in Chhattisgarh is being seen as a ‘focus sector’ to ensure industrial diversity.

Meanwhile, it may be recalled that the Chhattisgarh Government recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority ( APEDA) to develop clusters for providing a major push to Agri products exports from the State.

There is a plan to create a ‘cluster’ for horticultural crops in common geographical locations with a view to selecting the best produce for their packaging and their processing for the exports market, officials informed.

APEDA would assist the Government in finding exports markets to sell the produce.

For this, the Government has chosen three key horticulture producing locations in which papaya, bananas and vegetables are grown.

For papaya and bananas, Durg, Bemetara ,Raipur, Bilaspur and Rajnandgaon districts have been chosen whereas for vegetables, Durg, Bemetara, Raipur, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Balod, Surguja, Bastar and Raigarh had been identified.

It may also be recalled that the Chhattisgarh Government has prepared a five-year master plan to provide a fillip to the cultivation of horticulture based crops in the State.

 The master plan is for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22, officials informed.

 Horticulture is a sunrise sector in the State. The Horticulture crops cover an acreage of 7.41 lakh hectares and production is about 85.95 lakh metric tonnes, officials informed.

The acreage under horticulture crops had increased several times since 2004-05.

According to the master plan, the target is to increase acerage of horticulture crops by about 4.52 lakh hectares. The increase in acerage will cover fruits, vegetables, masala (spices) crops and flowers.

Under the Central Government's Micro-Irrigation Mission Project about 75,000 hectares land had been brought under micro-irrigation in Chhattisgarh. The proposal is to bring in additional 2.34 lakh additional land under the micro-irrigation during the next five years.

An additional investment of Rs 1405 crore  is likely to be incurred on the project.  Farmers will be trained in the processing of horticulture crops.

Additional training centers in production of horticulture crops will be established under the Private Partnership Plan (PPP), officials informed.

Agriculture expert teams also will visit all the villages in the State and guide the farmers.  About 30,000 farmers and 185 employees will be trained in the coming years and 100 farmers will be sent overseas on a study tour.

The Horticulture Department officials said that under the Post-Harvest Management, a network of cold storages and pack houses will be established to prevent the damage of perishable commodities like fruits, vegetables and flowers in the entire State.

About Rs 90.81 crore is likely to be invested in the project. Green Houses, shed net houses, mulching will be established at a cost of Rs 321 crore.

To encourage mechanization of  Horticulture, 20 Horse Power tractors, rotavator, power spryer, light trap instruments will be supplied to the farmers  at a cost of Rs 16.74 crore. Honey bee industry will be doubled in due course of time. There is a proposal to invest Rs 6.40 crore in the rearing of honey bees .

Prime Minister Crops' Insurance Scheme will help farmers to cover up the losses.