PUNE: In a joint project of NAFED and Maha-FPC, as many as 25 onion clusters (storage facilities) will be coming up soon in the State. This project will be developed under the Public-Private Partnership Integrated Agriculture Development (PPP-IAD) under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY-RAFTAAR) to build storage capacities for onions. A total of 25 Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) are also part of this joint project.
The project aims to build infrastructure for the storage of 25,000 tonnes of onions in the State. These storage clusters will be built in the area of 1.5 acres. These clusters will also have a weighing bridge and grading facility as well. The construction work for the same has begun and Maha-FPC, the implementing agency of this project, aims to complete it by March 2020.
Maha-FPC Managing Director Yogesh Thorat said, “Twenty-five onion storage facilities will be constructed and work for the same began a week ago and we aim to finish it by March 2020 before the next procurement of onions under Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) that will start in April in the State. This project will not only provide a storage facility but will also play an important role, creating alternative marketing infrastructure for the produce.”
The total cost of this project is Rs 25 crore, on which, 50 per cent of the amount will be invested by the State, while the rest will be raised by NAFED, FPCs and Maha-FPC.
“Maharashtra, being one of the leading producers of onion, lacks proper infrastructure for its storage. In order to develop good infrastructure, this project has been undertaken and 25 storage facilities will be built in the State,” said NAFED Additional Managing Director SK Singh.
Under The PSF scheme, procurement of onions will also start in April once the rabi variety of onion starts coming in the market.
Singh informed that a target of one lakh MT of onions has been finalised. He said, “To create a buffer stock, we are targeting to procure one lakh tonne onions and 75 per cent of it will be procured from Maharashtra. The procurement starts in April once the good quality onion starts coming in.”
Maha-FPC, as a state-level agency, plays an important role in the procurement. Thorat said,
“The onion procurement under PSF will start in April. At present, around 3,500 farmers are registered with us and this year, we are targeting around 8,000 farmers and the registration for the same will begin next week.”