Horticulture dept to set up 100 kiosks in Chennai

Chennai:

In a bid to help farmers get better price, state horticulture department is planning to set up 100 kiosks across the city, according to a senior official of state horticulture department.

Speaking during the inaugural session of Tamil Nadu Banana Festival organised by Confederation of Indian Industry, Dr Santosh Babu commissioner of Commissionerate of Horticulture and Plantation Corps told Express that the kiosks would be part of the Rs 17 crore Peri-metro project which is modelled on the lines of a similar initiative in Bangalore.

He said the kiosks would be 250 square feet and each would cater to 500 kg of vegetables. Babu said the project would benefit around 8,000 farmers.

He said the project is a public private partnership and the horticulture department has floated its own company Chennai Horticulture Produced Producers Company Limited (CHPPCL).

Babu said the initiative would focus on the clusters of farmers in Villupuram, Thiruvallur, Kanchipuram, Tiruvanamalai and Vellore.  The CHPPCL will have collection centres in the five districts from where the products will be sourced. He said the tenders seeking private partner has been floated in this regard.

He also said that the National horticulture mission along with Container Corporation of India  is planning a initiative where by Horticulture products from Dindigul will be sent to the northern belt. The project which is worth Rs 300 crore and is in an initial stage, he said and added that discussions are currently going on with planning commission chairman in this regard.

Salil Singhal, co-chairman of National Agriculture Council and chairman and managing director of PI industries highlighted the importance of cold store chain and rued the lack of controlled handling of horticulture products in the country when compared with European and other Asian markets.

B Thiagarajan, convenor of agriculture and food processing panel, CII Tamil Nadu and president of Bluestar said the state bananas could become a brand in the next 18-24 months.

A expo was also organized by CII where the entrepreneurs showcased various farm technology for cultivation of bananas besides byproducts of bananas, including banana wine.