Farmers cannot sell the Rs 63,000 crore yield every year, the government can save the farmers if it assumes

- Not enough cold storage to store fruits and vegetables

New Delhi, 29 September 2020 Tuesday

Farmers are not able to sell their produce worth Rs 63,000 crore every year, which means the country's exchequer was losing such a huge amount. Assuming the central government can stop this from happening.

This was stated by the Dalwai Inquiry Committee set up to double the income of farmers. The committee said that the hard work and expense behind the production of easily spoiled vegetables and fruits were going to Fogat when these vegetables and fruits were not sold. There were many reasons behind not selling vegetables and fruits. Failure to sell this yield resulted in a loss of Rs 63,000 crore to the farmers. The Dalwai committee said that the cost of starting cold storage across the country was likely to be as much as the loss to farmers every year.

There is not enough cold storage available in the country to store fruits and vegetables. Infrastructure, on the other hand, was poor. Most of the cold storage was far from farms and orchards. The Dalwai Committee noted in its report that about 34 per cent of fruits and 44.6 per cent of vegetables and 40 per cent of fruits plus vegetables do not get the economic benefits that growers get every year. As per the information given in the Parliament on September 23, 2020, there were eight thousand 186 Colt storages in the country with a total storage capacity of 374.26 million tonnes. However, farmers do not get enough benefit from this cold storage. Farmers did not reach this cold storage and it was spoiled so they had to throw it away.

The Dalwai committee said there was no coordination between packing houses, referral trucks, cold storage and harvesting centers, forcing farmers to bear the loss. As per the committee's suggestion, the entire network could be set up with an investment of Rs 89,375 crore to benefit farmers. If this happens, the loss of Rs 63,000 crore to farmers every year will not happen and the country's economy will get significant support.