The Minister of Railways, Mr Suresh Prabhu, and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr Devendra Fadnavis, laid the foundation stone for a cold storage at Lasalgaon near Nashik in Maharashtra on July 30, 2017. The facility is being developed by the Container Corporation of India (CONCOR) to store onions and other perishable produce, informed a release.
This cold storage will have a total capacity of 2,500 tonnes, of which 1,500 tonnes will be exclusively utilised for onion storage and the remaining for other perishable commodities such as fruits and vegetables, among them being pomegranate, grapes, banana, tomato, citrus, etc. This foray by Railways into the area of providing storage facility for farmers and specifically the cold storage at Lasalgaon will be a boon to farmers in not only Nashik and Lasalgaon, but also in nearby areas like Jalgaon, Manmad, Dhule, etc., the release emphasised.
The cold storage is being set up on CSR model by CONCOR at a cost of Rs 5 crore. It will be maintained by Lasalgaon Vibhag Sahakari Kharedi Vikri Sangh Ltd.
The Railways is a major transporter of onion and plays a key role in its timely transportation to various consumer markets from producer states. To reduce spoilages, it allots rakes/wagons on priority basis wherever possible for the carriage of onion.
Climatic conditions largely affect the onion growing areas, thereby leading to fluctuations in farm produce. The bumper production needs to be properly stored to stabilise supply during scarcity. The conventional methods lead to losses exceeding 35 per cent, depending on the weather conditions. This proposed cold storage will help in increasing the post-storage life of onions, allowing them to be sent to even remote locations. Labour cost is reduced to a great extent as there is no need for turning around the onions as required in conventional storage. There is direct saving of material and farming costs due to saving in weight and spoilage losses. Given that Maharashtra contributes 33 per cent of national onion production, it needs quality storage options, the release stressed.
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