Farm fresh

New Delhi, Oct. 7: The Union government plans to set up 30 food parks over the next five years. Of these, three will be in Bengal and two in the Northeast. The government will invest Rs 1,500 crore in the food parks in the Eleventh Five-Year Plan.

A food park will be a sourcing hub for fresh and processed products from farms for sale to retail outlets.

P. I. Suvrathan, secretary in the ministry of food processing, said, “We will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with all stakeholders. The government will invest Rs 50 crore and the remaining will be funded by the private sector.”

“Apart from the central government, the other stakeholders include farmer co-operatives, financial institutions, processors, retailers, and state governments,” Suvrathan added.

According to the food processing ministry, state governments can participate in the SPV by contributing land as equity. The procurement of land will not be the responsibility of the Centre but that of the SPVs and the stakeholders, said officials.

The project will help farmers get a better price for their products, while private retailers will have assured sources of supply.

“The government’s grant of Rs 50 crore is expected to leverage about Rs 120 crore investments in common infrastructure. Moreover, investments worth Rs 300 crore in processing, retailing, logistics and cold chain will be financed by private sources,” said ministry officials.

The food processing ministry has recommended the setting up of parks near farms to maintain a steady supply chain.

“Some fruits and vegetables start decaying within a couple of hours of their harvest. To avoid this, primary storage facilities will be set up near farms before they are taken to cold storages,” officials said.

The food parks will have three levels. Around 10 to 20 farmers will form self-help groups or co-operatives. Around 20 such groups will comprise a producer’s group. Each producer group will have collection and primary processing centres and pre-cooling units. About 20 such clusters will cater to one food park.