In order to promote food processing exports, the State Government is mulling to set up four more Agriculture Export Zones (AEZs).
While there are 60 AEZs in the country, Odisha has a single AEZ in Kandhamal for ginger and turmeric, which has boosted production of both the products.
Several State Governments are promoting AEZs. Andhra Pradesh has AEZs for mangoes, grapes and vegetables while West Bengal has AEZs for tea, mangoes, potato and other farm products.
The AEZs are supported by the APEDA of the Government of India. KPMG, an international consultant on industrial development has also favoured such steps for promotion of agricultural products in both domestic and international markets.
Odisha is a major producer of rice, maize, mangoes, bananas, kewda and vegetables. So, the State Government is planning an AEZ at Angul or Dhenkanal for mangoes. Quality mangoes of Dhenkanal have a good market in National Capital Region (NCR) and other areas.
Ganjam is famous for cashew and kewda; so, an AEZ at Brahmapur or Gopalpur would go a long way in processing products for export, said sources.
Odisha is the third largest producer of cashew in the country and is also known as a major oilseed producer.
Nabarangpur is famous for maize; however, absence of an AEZ is a bottleneck for farmers to grow more maize as there is hardly any backward linkage with a market-oriented approach. KBK districts have a large scope for an AEZ to promote rice in a big way as there is ample scope for quality paddy and rice.
Odisha is the country’s sixth largest producer of rice with the KBK region covering major rice producing districts.
By setting up of AEZs in these places, the units involved in agri export of these products would also be eligible for financial assistance from the Union Government’s agencies like APEDA and NHB.
As the Odisha Government aims at increasing the level of food processing share to the Gross State Domestic Products (GSDP) to 10 per cent by 2017 and to 25 per cent by 2025, setting up of AEZs would help achieve the target.
The State’s GSDP is now around Rs 3,50,000 crore; so, this target is a big one, to achieve which the State Government is trying to boost the food processing sector, said a senior official in the Department of MSME.