Chief Minister, Hemant Soren is working relentlessly for the prosperity of the farmers of Jharkhand and he is making every effort to touch the different aspects and take measures which will benefit the food producers. To provide relief to the farmers, a total of 1269 warehouses of 100 MT capacity in various LAMPS, PACS and Vyapar Mandal are ready to store the produce and as many as 350 are under construction.
A total of Warehouses are 2,000 proposed and a proposal to build 60 mini cold rooms is ready. To create an efficient and sustainable system, these mini cold rooms will be powered by solar energy, which will also reduce the cost of operation.
The Government has also come forward to ensure that farmers do not face any problem in storing paddy, wheat and other agricultural produce. Warehouses are being constructed in various Panchayats of the State. Many Warehouses have been built, while a large number of them are under construction.
During field visits, Soren came to know that in many districts, farmers are involved in the production of pears, tomatoes, vegetables and minor forest produce. This has increased the income of farmers and the production of fruits and vegetables has also increased in the State. Taking this into account, to avoid spoilage of the produce, he has planned the construction of cold storage in different districts.
At present Jharkhand, a large group of farmers are involved in the production of vegetables, fruits and others. But due to lack of cold room and cold storage, they often find it difficult to store their produce. Any delay in getting their produce to the market causes damage to the products. This causes great loss to the farmers. Therefore, the State Government has taken the initiative to address this problem of the farmers and find a long-term sustainable solution.
In the different blocks across the State where the production of fruits, vegetables, minor forest produce, and such agricultural products is high, one cold room of 30 metric ton capacity is to be constructed in all such blocks. These cold rooms will be operated through LAMPS and PACS and primary fruit-vegetable producers cooperative societies. With this, farmers will be able to get the right price for their produce and it will be available in the market for a longer time.
Farmers in the Panchayats are assisted in agricultural work through LAMPS and PACS. The number of LAMPS in the State is 2024 and the number of PACS is 2374. The total number of LAMPS, PACS and Vyapar Mandals in the State is 4478.
In this financial year, the Government plans to construct Warehouse cum marketing centre cum drying yard of 100 MT capacities in LAMPS and PACS at the block level. A proposal for the construction of 100 warehouses, each with a capacity of 500 MT has been sent to the department.
Keeping in view, the paddy procurement, manure seed business, and storage of minor forest produce , about 2 lakh tonnes of additional storage capacity will be required. For which it is proposed to construct 2000 warehouses, each with a capacity of 100 metric tonnes. Drying yards will also be constructed with each Warehouse so that moisture-rich food grains and forest produce can be dried in LAMPS and PACS.
Apart from the above, the construction of 38 warehouses of 200 MT capacities is completed. One warehouse of 300 MT capacity, two warehouses of 400 MT capacity, 13 warehouses of 500 MT capacities, while 100 Warehouses are proposed and one warehouse of 3,000 MT capacity is ready.