Earning readily available the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) for augmenting the APMCs infrastructure amenities in the Budget is currently being found an lengthy overdue reform by all the agricultural market place individuals.
Director of Vashi APMC, Sanjay Pansare, stated that the new and advance infrastructure is the need of the hour as most of the infrastructure at APMCs is at minimum thirty years outdated. A dedicated fund will assist with more rapidly generation of infrastructure at the APMCs.
Coverage dilly-dally
Chairperson of Lasalgaon APMC, Suvarna Jagtap, stated that earlier there was a perception that the Centre was keen on shutting down all the APMCs in the state. But today’s budgetary provision of building an infrastructure fund factors towards sustaining the APMCs. Even so, for main commodities these kinds of as onions a lengthy-time period policy is essential. Unplanned selections of the Centre these kinds of as export ban on onion and in a number of months again reopening the market place for exports is not acquired for the trade. Only a sustained and lengthy-time period policy will build very good infrastructure in the APMCs. These days the APMCs need onion storage in line with the arrivals in the market place, she stated.
On the other hand, Director of APMC at Koregaon in Satara district of Maharashtra, Shahaji Bhoite, stated most small APMCs in state these kinds of as Maharashtra are in economic troubles, as the cess levied by APMCs on vegetable sale has been discontinued and other supply of incomes have also been stopped. Only large APMCs closer to the towns these kinds of as Mumbai and Pune are doing properly. Consequently, the to start with stage must be to revive the APMCs and only then infrastructure improvement could transpire, he stated.
Chilly storage in phased manner
Secretary of the JNPT port-dependent Reefer Container Transporters Welfare Association, Sunil Mulik, stated that APMCs cope with a large amount of contemporary and perishables meals goods but most deficiency even the primary chilly storage amenities. Clean fruits and vegetables have to have pre-cooling in advance of stuffing in containers. It will increase the shelf existence of these kinds of solutions, but these kinds of amenities are not readily available in APMCs. Exporters at time of loading one particular sort of vegetable at a chilly storage then go to APMCs for a different sort of vegetable or fruits. These kinds of problems increase to the processing and very good handling expenses. If all the contemporary meals are readily available in one particular area for ultimate stuffing of export containers, then it will lessen operational expenses, he stated.
Mulik pointed out that the fund must be utilised for building 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of chilly storage amenities at all large APMCs. In the to start with section of chilly storages, which can retail store contemporary fruits and vegetables at to ten diploma centigrade cooling, must be set up. In the following section, meats and fish necessitating minus 5 to minus 25 diploma centigrade cooling could be produced. These days a selection of exporters put up with losses for the reason that just after a cargo cargo reaches its international places, but the importers complain of fungal development, especially on fruits. A element of the consignment gets turned down influencing the earnings of the exporters and as a result the international exchange coming in the state.
An onion trader from Lasalgaon APMC in Nashik district of Maharashtra, Nitin Jain, stated that when these kinds of a new infrastructure will get produced then the governing administration must also outline all those people who would be its rightful people. The amenities must be readily available on to start with come, to start with served basis. For commodities these kinds of as onions, the charges have a tendency to get unstable in September and October for the reason that small farmers do not have enough storage capacity to retail store the crop and have to make a distress gross sales, he stated.
On the other hand, traders do not have capacity to retail store the crop in the APMCs. Consequently, for onion crop, large natural air regulated warehouses are the need of the hour. For other crops these kinds of as potatoes and tomatoes, new large capacity chilly storages are essential. These kinds of storages will assist regulate the market place and desire of all market place gamers will get guarded, Jain stated.