The clearance to procure ‘Green Peas Harvesting Machine’ by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was a major step in the direction to bring ‘Green Peas’ Harvesting technology with a thrust to promote food processing industry on one hand and diversification of agriculture in the State on the other.
A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that, the Chief Minister gave nod to purchase this ultra modern machine from Holland based firm Ploeger at a cost of Rs 3.50 crore for the mechanised plucking of peas, which would not only curtail the labour cost but also enhance the value addition as the peas plucked through this machine would be 100 per cent utilised for processing.
The State Government through Punjab Agri Export Corporation limited has identified Green Peas Harvestor of Hollond and was being imported as a prototype. The main purpose for introducing this harvester in Punjab was to mechanise green peas harvesting technologies. This effort of the State Government would help the farmers/processors to enhance area under peas and also result in diversification in agriculture.
The State Government has also decided to develop indigenous harvester and successful working of Holland made machine. The indigenous machines would be developed at much lower cost once a prototype was available. It may be recalled that against 40 lakh Metric Ton of Peas produced in India only 10 per cent were processed resulting in 1.25 lakh metric ton of frozen peas. On the contrary developed countries like UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Netherlands and USA indulged in 100 per cent processing of peas because these countries had processing plants with mechanised harvesting operations of huge capacity.
The spokesperson said that Punjab was the only State of the country which was endowed with excellent agro ecological conditions such as climate, soil, water, sunshine, etc., which were highly conducive for growing of several varieties of various crops.
Predominantly, cereal crop productivity in the State has reached a plateau and cost of cultivation was increasing at a much faster pace than that of the final selling price. Therefore, the State Government was laying thrust on cultivation of fruits and vegetables, as an alternative crop to ensure better remunerative prices to the farmers.
It may be recalled that at the national level 40 lakh MT of Green Peas was produced mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan out of which, only 10 per cent was processed, with annual production of around 1.25 lakh MT of Frozen Green Peas. likewise, Pea was the most popular crop of Punjab and in the year 2012-13 Green Peas were grown on 20,326 hectares across the State with production of 2,08,171 MT.
Out of this, only 10-15 percent was processed by frozen vegetables processing plants located in the State. At present, the farmers of Punjab were gradually taking up cultivation of horticulture crops viz. fruits & vegetables. During 1996-97, the production of vegetables was 16.99 lakh MT which has gone up to 41.02 lakh MT during 2013-14. Pea is the most popular crop of Punjab and Patiala, Ferozepur, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, ludhiana, Gurdaspur, Sangrur, Faridkot are major fruits and vegetables growing districts in Punjab.