Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel said the newly inaugurated Centre for Perishable Cargo at the Ahmedabad airport would increase value of agricultural yield and benefit farmers through export of their produce.
Speaking at an agriculture fest held yesterday at Navsari, the Chief Minister emphasised, "Farmers should adopt new trends and shift towards organic farming as it would lead to sustainable farming.
"It would also increase their incomes through exports to countries like US, UK, Russia, Europe and Gulf nations. And as part of this arrangement for exporting produce, this centre has been started," Patel was quoted as saying in a press release.
The modern perishable cargo complex which has four different temperature chambers to store agricultural produce like fruits, vegetables, is one of the best examples of the government's commitment towards the confluence of science and agriculture, Patel said.
"The construction of this complex having annual capacity of 14,600 metric tonnes is a major step towards making farmers of Gujarat 'global farmers'," she said.
Looking at the rising demand for organic farm products world over, Gujarat government has been giving subsidy for farmers engaged in this rapidly growing system of agriculture in the state, Patel said.
She said her government has formulated new rules and regulations for organic farming keeping in mind the high demand for such produce.
Subsidy is given to those engaged in organic agriculture to encourage more peasants to adopt the technique which avoids use of fertilisers, pesticides and relies on crop rotation and green manure, the release added.
