UP experiments with agriculture retail format

Almost seven months after Reliance Fresh stores were shut in UP after Chief Minister Mayawati scrapped the new agriculture policy following protests by a section of traders, a state government-funded agency is set to foray into the agri retail sector.

The Uttar Pradesh State Horticultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (HOFED) is rolling out 14 agri retail outlets in the state this month.

These outlets, each spread over 150 square feet on average, will be opened in Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Meerut, Aligarh, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Rampur, Faizabad, Ambedkarnagar and Basti. Lucknow will have two such outlets in prime locations.

On August 23 last year, the state government had ordered the closure of Reliance Fresh stores in UP, a day after 10 stores were opened in Lucknow, citing law and order problems in the wake of traders' protest. Farmers, consumers and the industry at large were in favour of the retail format, which was expected to give a major fillip to the agricultural sector.

Meanwhile, the spots for opening the outlets at a majority of the places had been identified and the simultaneous rollout would materialise by the end of this month, a HOFED official told Business Standard. While the Federation will provide the land and other infrastructure for these, associated societies, self-help groups and NGOs will run them.

The outlets will stock agricultural produce, including fruit, vegetables and spices, depending on the local productivity and output.

"The managing societies will have to pay a nominal monthly rent to HOFED," the official said. An allocation of Rs 14 lakh has been made by the state government for this.

These small outlets will have power back-up, deep freezer, electronic weighing machines, plastic crates, sign boards, furniture and packaging material.

Depending upon the response and profitability of these outlets, more such centres may be established by HOFED. These outlets will present a monthly report to HOFED, which now has more than 700 primary horticulture societies registered in UP at the village and block levels.

Every HOFED registered society comprises about 50 members engaged in horticulture farming. Some members are engaged in bee-keeping also. HOFED provides free pre- and post-harvest training to its members.

UP registers good horticulture output annually, especially mangoes, guava, leechi, onion, garlic, turmeric, and bananas, besides several medicinal and aromatic plants.

HOFED gets its members quality agricultural inputs through the intermediate societies, such as seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, insecticides, and sapling, besides collective marketing of the produce.