Bengal plans pineapple auction centre, potato export facilitation
West Bengal is all set to beef up the logistics support system for the two prime agri commodities, pineaaple and potato, at pre-harvest and post-harvest stages.
By Ratna Ganguli, TNN |
KOLKATA: West Bengal, which is the largest producer of pineapple and the second-largest producer of potato in the country, is all set to beef up the logistics support system for the two prime agri commodities at pre-harvest and post-harvest stages. Talking to ET, the secretary to the department of food processing industries and horticulture, Sanjeev Chopra, said that on September 15, the department is going to sign two MoUs with the Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (Apeda), which is under the Union commerce ministry.
One of the MoUs will be signed to set up an auction centre for pineapple at Bidhannagar in Siliguri, while the other will be for an integrated potato development and export facilitation centre, which is likely to come up near Dankuni in Hooghly district.
The MoUs will be signed in the presence of Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh, state minister for food processing industries and horticulture Mohanta Chatterjee and Nirupam Sen, state industry and commerce minister.
The project cost of the Siliguri auction centre is estimated at about Rs 10 crore and that for the potato centre is Rs 6.12 crore. As part of the MoUs, Apeda will bear 75% of the project costs and the balance will be borne by the state government.
The pineapple auction centre, which will be built in two phases, will finally be equipped to handle 62,500 tonne of pineapple in two shifts a day, in 240 days yearly. In the first phase, a truck parking area with a capacity to handle 25 trucks at a time and a next-generation weigh bridge with an LCD monitor will be put up. In the second phase, a pineapple receiving bay will be set up, which would accommodate four trucks at a time.
In all, it will be equipped with a number of multi-chamber cold storages, a dispatch bay and a sprawling area for washing, pre-treatment, sorting, grading and packaging 500 tonne of pineapple a day. “The first phase of the project is expected to start after the Durga Puja,” said Mr Chopra.
Similarly, the integrated potato development and export facilitation centre will be created to undertake research in producing breeder potato seeds, suiting the state’s agriclimate. The exercise will be undertaken for those potato varieties which have demand both from the domestic processors and in the overseas markets. Additionally, it will be equipped with basic facilities for post-harvest operations like drying sheds, curing sheds, pre-cooling chambers, elevated cold storage, testing labs, service centres and spaces for maintenance of tubers of parental lines.
With pineapple cultivation picking up in North Bengal, half-a-dozen companies, including the likes of Dabur Foods, Calipso and the Pailan Group, have set up multifruit processing units near the town, with an eye on procuring pineapple from North Bengal and North East for sale of processed pineapple products at home and abroad.
One of the MoUs will be signed to set up an auction centre for pineapple at Bidhannagar in Siliguri, while the other will be for an integrated potato development and export facilitation centre, which is likely to come up near Dankuni in Hooghly district.
The MoUs will be signed in the presence of Union minister of state for commerce Jairam Ramesh, state minister for food processing industries and horticulture Mohanta Chatterjee and Nirupam Sen, state industry and commerce minister.
The project cost of the Siliguri auction centre is estimated at about Rs 10 crore and that for the potato centre is Rs 6.12 crore. As part of the MoUs, Apeda will bear 75% of the project costs and the balance will be borne by the state government.
The pineapple auction centre, which will be built in two phases, will finally be equipped to handle 62,500 tonne of pineapple in two shifts a day, in 240 days yearly. In the first phase, a truck parking area with a capacity to handle 25 trucks at a time and a next-generation weigh bridge with an LCD monitor will be put up. In the second phase, a pineapple receiving bay will be set up, which would accommodate four trucks at a time.
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In all, it will be equipped with a number of multi-chamber cold storages, a dispatch bay and a sprawling area for washing, pre-treatment, sorting, grading and packaging 500 tonne of pineapple a day. “The first phase of the project is expected to start after the Durga Puja,” said Mr Chopra.
Similarly, the integrated potato development and export facilitation centre will be created to undertake research in producing breeder potato seeds, suiting the state’s agriclimate. The exercise will be undertaken for those potato varieties which have demand both from the domestic processors and in the overseas markets. Additionally, it will be equipped with basic facilities for post-harvest operations like drying sheds, curing sheds, pre-cooling chambers, elevated cold storage, testing labs, service centres and spaces for maintenance of tubers of parental lines.
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The pineapple auction centre is coming up at Siliguri, because this town is now the nerve centre of the agri export zone (AEZ) for pineapple in the state, comprising the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur and Cooch Behar in North Bengal. With pineapple cultivation picking up in North Bengal, half-a-dozen companies, including the likes of Dabur Foods, Calipso and the Pailan Group, have set up multifruit processing units near the town, with an eye on procuring pineapple from North Bengal and North East for sale of processed pineapple products at home and abroad.
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Similarly, the proposed potato centre will come up in Hooghly which is the largest potato producing area in West Bengal. Too busy to trade in stocks? Invest in Mutual Funds with ET Money!
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