Administrative Council approves expansion of cold storage facilities in Jammu

JAMMU : The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved establishment of 5000 MT Multi Chambered Modern Cold Storage and Ripening Project for storing fresh fruits & vegetables, by J&K State Agro Industries Development Corporation Ltd.

Farooq Khan and Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisors to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.

The project will be first of its kind cold storage facility for fresh fruits and vegetables in Jammu district and will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs. 2646.73 lac at Talab Tiloo, Jammu in next eight months. It will reduce the post-harvest losses by increasing the shelf life of various agriculture/horticulture products, besides addressing the issue of distress sales of the crops by the farmers.

During the last two years, an enabling environment has been created for transforming J&K Agriculture and allied sector to increase the income of farmers, ensure food security and speed up the economic growth of J&K. The Government has taken several concrete steps for increasing the Agriculture/Horticulture production and enhancing the quality of the crop, while laying special focus on the post harvesting management infrastructure especially in private sector.

So far, around 1.98 LMT of CA Storage has been established in the private sector which has mostly focused on one crop only. The upcoming project is a step towards diversifying the cold storage facility for multiple fruits and vegetables in Jammu division.