Even as the State Government has decided to set up 112 cold storages for promoting potato and onion farming on a bigger scale, the existing cold storage facilities for preservation of produces are a matter of concern. For, out of the 20 existing cold storages in the State, two have been sold and 12 are lying defunct.
Official sources said the Government sold the Bhuban Co-operative cold storage at ` 25 lakh in 2003 and the Aska Panchayat Samiti cold store at `31 lakh in 2004.
The only six cold storages functioning in the State are at Hindol Road in Dhenkanal, Puri, Nimapada, Bhubaneswar, Jagatpur and Rayagada.