Karnal vegetable farmers cannot hold their produce for a long time or wait till the prices are good, as there are not sufficient cold storage facilities and processing plants. A few have the facility to store tomatoes or other vegetables and fruits, but the capacity is not enough. The district requires at least 10 times more cold storage capacity.
The district produces around 350,000 tons of vegetables, but the storage capacity is only 30,000 tons. “The government gives 35 per cent subsidy for individual cold storage and 70-90 per cent for the FPO. There is a facility like a cold room, for which the government extends a subsidy of Rs 525,000 on the project of Rs 1.5 million,” said Madan Lal, District Horticulture Officer (DHO).
Despite this, farmers are reluctant to take advantage of the subsidy, as most of the farmers involved in vegetable farming are small or marginal. Farmers say the storage of their produce is a costly affair. “I can store potato crop up to six months, but for that, I have to pay Rs 130-140 per bag carrying 50kg for this tenure,” said Yashpal Kamboj, a potato grower.
[ Rs 100 = €1.10 ]
