Aiming to bring down wastage of food grains post harvest, the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to establish a network of godowns and cold storages in every district across the state.
In Uttar Pradesh, the annual post harvest crop wastage is estimated to be 15 to 20 per cent due to lack of adequate storage infrastructure. Uttar Pradesh is one of the leading states in agricultural production in the country but has been plagued by poor warehousing infrastructure.
According to the plan, Primary Co-operative Societies (PACS) in the state will build as many as 2,000 godowns with support from Centrally-sponsored scheme, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF). Besides, construction of godowns and cold storages will be encouraged in every district. It will help preserve farmers’ produce for long periods on the one hand and, on the other, allow them to sell it as per their convenience for more profit. Besides, loans will be provided to interested farmers and agricultural institutions for setting up e-marketing platforms, warehouses, silos, pack houses, sorting and grading units in all districts of the state.
After taking over as chief minister in March 2017, Yogi Adityanath directed officials of the Agriculture department to prepare a foolproof plan for curbing the post harvest wastage of crops and it was decided that the PACS will be largely funded by the AIF to build 2,000 godowns in the state.
Subsequently, a total of 1,500 PACS out of 7,470 agreed to build godowns with the capacity of 100 metric tons each at the cost of Rs 20 lakh and sought Rs 60 crore from the Agriculture department. The Agriculture department has provided Rs 4 lakh to the PACS for the purpose while the remaining 80 per cent of the amount will be taken as loan by the PACS from the AIF.
Meanwhile, the construction of 400 godowns has already started and is expected to be complete soon. It will be followed by the construction of 1,600 godowns. Under this ambitious scheme, officers of the Cooperative department along with farmers and entrepreneurs will also build Community Agriculture Centres to store farmers' produce so that they could sell it at the right time. A loan of up to Rs 2 crore will be given to the applicants for building big godowns, pack houses and cold storages etc. There will be a credit guarantee for seven years on the loan. There will also be a rebate of three per cent on interest per annum.
Apart from the godowns being built by PACS, applications for 197 projects worth Rs 218 crore have been received so far, of which 20 will be approved soon.