Guarseeds to get an exports push
Here’s another government initiative to raise agri-commodity exports for employment generation in rural India. This time round, it aims to promote exports of guargum by stepping up guarseed production.
By Ratna Ganguli, TNN |
KOLKATA: Here’s another government initiative to raise agri-commodity exports for employment generation in rural India. This time round, it aims to promote exports of guargum by stepping up guarseed production.
In so far as employment generation goes, the Centre intends to achieve this through a large number of self-help groups (SHGs) in guar-producing states.
Guargum, which acts as a stabiliser, emulsifier and thickener, has a huge demand at home and overseas for extensive use in multiple industries including food, textiles, oil drilling, mining, construction, explosives, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals and paper.
The commerce ministry is already playing a catalytic role in the promotion of guargum exports. And it has linked the two key stakeholders - the ministry of rural development and Shellac & Forest Produce Export Promotion Council (Shefexil), which is under its fold.
The commerce ministry has urged the ministry of rural development to consider a proposal of releasing funds from the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY) scheme to assist forming 25,000 self-help groups (SHGs) in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana in the next three years, which would be entrusted to spread guarseed cultivation in those major guar producing states.
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As per the proposal, it has also sought funds from the latter to set up a pilot seed farm in Haryana, a world class guar resource centre at Bikaneer and for giving training to farmers on modern farming practices. With export of guargum being the focal point of the entire project, the proposal was prepared by Shefexil at the behest of the commerce ministry.Shefexil has chalked out the proposal with a three-pronged objective. One is to further raise export of guargum through expansion of guarseed cultivation. The second is to ensure price stability in guargum which is now subject to wild price fluctuations due to demand in overseas markets.
While the third, is to create more jobs in rural areas by creating more SHGs, which would be involved in propagation of guarseed cultivation and in the entire chain of processing guargum. To implement the schemes, Shefexil has estimated an outlay of Rs 14.50 crore for the project.
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