Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Aug 02, 2007
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Aug 02, 2007 ePaper |
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Agri-Biz & Commodities
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Infrastructure Industry & Economy - Exports & Imports States - West Bengal ‘Agri Export Zones have not taken off in a big way in eastern region’
So far some 60 AEZs have been sanctioned in 60 States, and not one has taken off in a big way. States asked to prepare project reports, identify the infrastructure support needed, markets and agencies and get moving without any further delay.
Our Bureau Kolkata, Aug. 1 Describing Agri Export Zones (AEZs) as a “discredited concept” which has failed to take off, Mr Jairam Ramesh, Union Minister of State for Commerce, said here recently that eastern region States despite having a competitive agri advantage (not water-stressed such as Maharashtra or Karnataka) have not delivered in terms of agri exports. He said so far some 60 AEZs have been sanctioned in 60 States, and not one has taken off in a big way. Mr Ramesh urged the four Eastern Region States of West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Bihar to select one agri commodity each and promote export of the item in a big way. The items suggested were pineapples for Bengal, organic turmeric (Orissa), Lichis (Bihar) and vegetables from Jharkhand. Assuring Central Government support for the States’ export promotion efforts, the Minister asked the States to prepare project reports, identify the infrastructure support needed, markets, agencies etc and get moving without any further delay. Speaking at an interactive session on “Agri exports in Eastern Region: Opportunities and Challenges”, organised jointly by the Department of Food Processing and Horticulture, Government of West Bengal, Ministry of Commerce, GOI and ICC here recently, the Minister urged the four States of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa to go all out to promote value-added export. Giving the example of NDDB milk producers co-operative, he said private entrepreneurs, Centre, States and banks can work together to convert ideas into projects. Pointing out that India was now the second largest supplier of cut roses to Holland, the Minister said agri exports could emerge as a major vehicle for transformation of lives of people in the eastern region, which abounds in natural advantages such as soil and abundant water resources. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said West Bengasl suffered huge post-harvest losses owing to lack of cold chain and related facilities, despite holding a clear leadership position in fruits (pineapples and mango) and vegetables. He said in places such as Haldibari in Cooch Behar district of North Bengal, tomatoes just perished on the ground because of lack of cold storage facilities. “Farmers do not get any price after three days.” Stating that value-addition in food-processing was a mere 3 per cent, he said policies need to be formulated to tackle this problem at the pre-harvest stage, such as supply of quality seeds, fertiliser etc. He said, “We need to work jointly with the agriculture universities for such value-addition.”
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