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Dimapur, Sep. 23 (EMN): Nagaland has three cold storage facilities with 7150 MT capacity for storing perishable horticulture produce like fruits and vegetables, according to Press information Bureau.
As per the information, there are 8186 number of cold storages with capacity of 374.25 lakh MT is available in the country.
The information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
The information regarding capacity utilisation, real time data regarding availability, cost etc. on cold storage facilities for farmers and traders is not centrally maintained by the Ministry. There is no real-time monitoring system, it stated.
A study on All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (AICIC-2015) carried out by Nabard Consultancy Service (NABCONS) assessed requirement of 350 lakh MT capacity of cold storage for perishable fruits and vegetables.
The Central government will be implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) under which financial assistance will be provided for setting up of cold storages throughout the country to bridge the gap between availability and required cold storage capacity, it stated.
The department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare will be implementing MIDH for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities including setting up of cold storages. The component is demand and entrepreneur driven for which government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% (for general areas) and 50% (for hilly and scheduled areas) of eligible capital cost of the project for both public and private sector enterprises.
The PMKSY will be implemented by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries for Integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure as one of the component of the scheme with the objective of reducing post-harvest losses of horticulture and non-horticulture produce and providing remunerative price to farmers for their produce.
Under the scheme, the ministry will provide financial assistance in the form of grant-in-aid at the rate 35% for general areas and 50% for Northeast states, Himalayan states, ITDP areas and Islands for storage and transport infrastructure and at the rate of 50% and 75% respectively for value addition and processing infrastructure subject to a maximum of INR 10 crore per project for setting up Integrated cold chain projects including irradiation facility. Standalone cold storages are not covered under the scheme, it informed.