The State has a total of 1,68,680 metric tonne (MT) capacity of cold storages against requirement of 2,88,328 MT as per a survey conducted by the NCCD-NABCON, a national-level agency.
Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Minister Pradeep Maharathy in formed this in the State Assembly in response to a question of Congress MlA Naba Kishore Das on Wednesday.
However, the Minister stated that seven new cold stores would be functional by end of the current month and the storage capacity would be enhanced to 1,97,480 MT.
“ There were only 27 cold stores having 1,32,280 MT at the time of introduction of Potato Mission in 2015-16. While eight new units with 36,400 capacity has been established, seven more will come up by this month end. And 18 more with storage capcity of 81,000 MT will be functional by March 2018,” the Minister said.
He informed that 67,636 MT of potato had been kept in cold stores in 2016-17. The Government is providing 55 per cent or maximum of Rs 220 lakh as subsidy in general areas and 70 per cent or maximum of Rs 280 lakh in scheduled areas for establishment of cold stores under the Potato Mission. Similarly, electricity tariff rebates are being provided for six years at the rate of 50 per cent for the first two years, 30 per cent for the next two years and 20 per cent for the final two years.
The Minister said while potato was cultivated on a total of 15,805 hectares of land in 2014-15, the area of cultivation increased to 25,183 hectares in 2015-16. While a total of 2.68 lakh metric tonne was produced before the Potato Mission, the production increased to 2.78 MT in 2015-16, said the Minister.
The Government is providing a subsidy of Rs 12,250 per hectare of land for production of potato seed in general areas and Rs 17,500 in scheduled areas, he said.
He further informed that talks are on with private agencies for production of quality potato seed in the State. Bengaluru-based Utkal Tubers India Pvt ltd has planned to undertake farming for potato seed at Koraput from this year, he said.