Himachal: Growers demand cold storage facility for vegetables

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, June 12

Even as the production of vegetables is more than double of fruits in the state, there’s hardly any cold storage facility for vegetables. “When our vegetables hit the market (from April to November), there’s hardly any vegetables coming from the plains. So, our vegetables are sold easily at generally good price,” said Rajesh Kaushik, Director, Department of Agriculture.

Will help in stabilising prices

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Short-term and small-scale storage facility for vegetables was the need of the hour. The growers need this facility for short term, just for 7-10 days. It will help a lot in stabilising the prices. Harish Chauhan, president, growers’ association

While admitting that the off-season production is a big advantage to the vegetable growers, Kuldeep Tanwar, president of Himachal Kisan Sabha, said the cold storage facilities were still required to tide over the frequent volatility of the market. “We have been demanding the cold storage facility for vegetables and spices for over a decade now. Most growers have small produce as land holdings are small. If they hit the market when there’s slump, the result is distress sale,” he said.

“Last year, the per kg price of garlic fluctuated between Rs 140 and Rs 40, and the tomato price altered between Rs 40 and Rs 4. These are massive fluctuations, and this could be addressed only when growers get some control over the supply line through cold storage facility,” said Tanwar.

Sanjeev Deshta, secretary of the BJP Kisan Morcha, said the processing units along with cold storage facilities were also required to ensure reasonable prices for the vegetable growers throughout the season.

Accepting that short-term storage cold storage facilities would be beneficial for the vegetable growers, Director Agriculture said the department was looking to build primary processing and small cold stores as part of its Cluster Development Programme in the state.

“The storage facility for vegetables like potato and onions is available in private sector in Baddi, Nalagarh, etc. For the more perishable vegetables, we will look to build cold storage facilities through convergence of different scheme of Agriculture and other departments,” said Kaushik.