There is an urgent need to develop an independent export facility for agricultural produce such as groundnut, basmati rice and condiments, said Maharashtra chief secretary V Ranganathan.
At seminar on the agriculture and food processing sector on Friday, he said: "Maharashtra badly needs its own agro-produce park to promote the production and processing of agricultural produce based on the latest technology."
Ranganathan provided details about the food park being developed, saying "While a flower market would best suit Mumbai city, care should be taken to ensure that all these projects now in the stage of formulation -- including those meant for export-oriented cash crops like grapes, kesari mango and strawberry -- are equipped with state-of-the art technology."
The chief secretary also stressed the need for establishment of field units to process surplus milk at the point-of-field stage itself so that production costs could be reduced.
