Posted: By Shiv Bhatia
HSAMB (Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board), a state government development agency, is taking up commendable steps to strengthen agriculture supply infrastructure for efficient marketing of fresh/ green horticulture products like fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs.
Apart from helping farmers in securing better price for their products, creation of modern suppy-chain infrastructure will go a long way in reducing spoilage/wastage of short shelf life fresh products. This will also provide common platform to retail chains and large national and global wholesalers to procure their requirements from well equipped market places in an organised manner.
The Agriculture Marketing Board will invest over Rs 100 crore (1 billion) in creating two modern wholesale markets at Panchkula and Mewat in Haryana (source). The wholesale markets, being set up under under National Horticulture Mission, will facilitate sale and purchase of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs.
Apart from facilities of auction halls for sale of fruits, vegetables and flowers, proposed wholesale markets will also have ultra modern facilities for grading packing halls, pre-coolers, cold storages for potato,etc, onion storage, organic food section, ripening chambers, among others. Among other provisions, the proposed markets will have infrastructure for retail chain and wholesale shops, retail market for farmers, business park, viewing gallery, transport and waste disposal area, water works, loading and unloading areas, and quality testing labs.
According to R R Jowel, HSAMB’s chief administrator, creation of these markets will help state farmers in seeking customers for their produce not only from Haryana but from national and international markets as well.
The Board, according to Jowel, is also considering a proposal for development of supply chain infrastructure, that will include creating facilities for pre-cooling, washing, waxing, grading, sorting, packing and cold storage of horticulture products at 17 existing market places at an additional investment of over Rs 75 crore (750 million).
The state agency, according to Jowel, is also setting up a new vegetable market at Panipat and a modern farmer’s market at Panchkula in the state. Apart from these, new vegetables and fruits markets including modern farmer’s market will also come up at Hisar, Narnaul, Rohtak and Karnal. Setting up of air conditioned market at Gurgaon, cold storage facilities for potatoes at Shahbad, storage facilities for onions at Jhajjar and multi utility cold storage at Sonipat are also going to form part of infrastructure plans.
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