Bhopal: With the objective of providing better market for horticultural crops in the state, rapid efforts have been made in the state to improve the marketing of horticultural crops. In this series, the meeting of the Horticulture Crop Marketing Formation Advisory Board was held in the Ministry on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Horticulture and Food Processing Minister Shri Narayan Singh Kushwaha. Agriculture Production Commissioner Shri Ashok Barnwal and other officials were present in the meeting. Minister Shri Narayan Singh Kushwaha said that with the objective of getting fair price for their crops to the farmers producing horticultural crops, the state government has started work on forming a separate Horticulture Crop Produce Market Board. At present, under the MP Agricultural Produce Market Act 1972, the MP State Agricultural Marketing Board has been formed. In these, the purchase and sale of agricultural and horticultural crops is done in the same complex. The state has 25 Agricultural Produce Market Committees in which 174 markets have been notified for the sale of fruits and vegetables. Once the new system is implemented, separate new complexes will be created for fruits, flowers and vegetable crops. Grading, sorting, packing, packhouse, cold storage, cold chain, storage etc. facilities will be developed in the proposed mandis. Agriculture Production Commissioner Shri Ashok Barnwal has directed that before the formation of a separate mandi for horticultural crops, the Mandi Board and the Horticulture Department should survey the agricultural mandis and horticultural crop produce mandis of other states of the country and prepare a detailed proposal and present it before the Advisory Board. He directed Managing Director Mandi Board Shri Kumar Purushottam to study the private fruit mandi operated at Gwalior divisional headquarters.
New agricultural produce market and horticultural crop market required in Gwalior: Minister Shri Kushwah- Horticulture Minister Shri Narayan Singh Kushwah said that due to both the agricultural produce market and vegetable market being in the urban boundary Lakshmiganj in Gwalior, the traffic of the city gets disrupted. Also, the mandi premises are also getting smaller now as per the demand of time. He said that the Mandi Board should be shifted to the new Agricultural Produce Market Special Area Development Authority (SADA). For this, the Mandi Board should conduct a survey and submit the report to the government. Secretary Agriculture Mr. Nishant Barbade, Commissioner Horticulture and Food Processing Mrs. Preeti Maithil, Managing Director Mandi Board Mr. Kumar Purushottam and other departmental officers were present in the meeting.
