A vegetable processing project, having capacity of 80,000 tons per year, will come up in Machhiwara, in Punjab’s Ludhiana district. The first stone of the facility is expected to be laid by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on May 30. The project would be set up by IFFCO and Congelados de Navarra (CN Corp), Spain.
Rajat Aggarwal, CEO, Invest Punjab, said the company visited many areas in the country, but judged Punjab to be best for setting up this unique project. The project will have facilities to process a wide range of individual quick-freezing (IQF) vegetables e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, green peas and corn among others and potatoes to manufacture French fries and potato snacks. The company will pick the produce from farmers directly, process these vegetables for various purposes and then sell it in India and overseas.
The commercial production of the project would start by 2020. Around 1,50,000 tons of raw vegetables would be required, which would be procured within a primary catchment area of around 150 km radius.
The firm is also looking to establish a long-term relationship with farmers for procuring raw vegetables by contract farming. The firm will closely work with farmers to educate them about the new and modern techniques of farming, seeds, pesticides, balance fertilisation, crop rotation to increase farm productivity and quality of produce. “As per the high ratio of exports to western countries, the aim is to achieve a ‘Made in India’ product with European certifications,” said Aggarwal.
About the marketing of produce, Aggarwal said: “Around 40 per cent of the production will be sold in India both in retail and food services and the remaining 60 per cent will be exported. As this project will require good amount of water, it will be met by using Sirhind Canal water and ground water.”
Source: tribuneindia.com