Haryana Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Jai Prakash Dalal on Friday said that the ultramodern apple, fruits market which is to come up on 78 acres of land in Pinjore, will help in economic development and will also benefit the apple farmers of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing a consultation meeting organized for various stakeholders for the apple market of Pinjore in Chandigarh on Friday, he said that the State Government has already set up an apple market on 3 acres land in Sector-20 of Panchkula, but during the peak apple season, there is a shortage of space and other problems.

The infrastructure, modern technology and other types of facilities of the apple market were discussed in the meeting.

He said that apples coming from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu are kept in cold storage in far-flung places like Delhi, Bangalore, and Chennai, which not only incurs huge transportation expenses but also affects the quality of fruits and vegetables; therefore, the upcoming apple market of Pinjore will solve all these problems.

Dalal said that due to the lack of cold storage capacity in the State and other provinces, most vegetables, and fruits get wasted. The Minister further asked the stakeholders present in the meeting to consider setting up a processing unit in a nearby area of this ultra-modern apple market and other Mandis so that the fruits and the vegetables are not kept for a longer time and the availability of the products remains consistent in the markets.

The Minister said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, it was decided to set up an international vegetable market in Ganaur for which an amount of about 400 crores has been released. Apart from this, the flower market will be set up in Gurugram and a spices market will be set up in Sonipat.

He said that Haryana is a progressive State in the field of agriculture in the country. Along with this, Haryana is also a pioneer in the country for horticulture and infrastructure of Mandis. He said that the department should move towards the goal of setting up ultramodern apple, fruits market so that the farmers' income should be increased.

It was informed in the meeting that about 5 lakh tonnes of apples are produced in Himachal Pradesh and about 18 lakh tonnes of apples in Jammu which are distributed through Pinjore through Delhi. Therefore, the apple market in Pinjore will directly benefit the farmers of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu.

The model of fruit Mandis of developed countries was also discussed in the meeting so that the apple market of Pinjore can be modernized using those techniques.