Union food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal today said progressive farmers of Punjab can avail of Rs 10 crore subsidy by establishing mini food parks, besides availing other benefits through small processing units as part of self-help and cooperative groups.
Addressing farmers here to create awareness about the SAMPADA programe which aims at distributing Rs 6,000 crore to entrepreneurs and farmers to add value to food products in the next three years, Badal said never before had farmers been incentivised to such a large scale to become entrepreneurs in their own right.
Stating that this was the way forward and would help in doubling farm income by 2022, the Union minister said while large farmers could join mega food parks where they could get subsidy of Rs 5 crore, they could also establish their own mini parks or get together to establish stand alone food processing units for which also subsidy would be given.
Badal said she had talked with a consulting company to help farmers to make their project reports and avail of other technical information needed to apply for benefits under SAMPADA.
She also disclosed that there was lot of scope for vegetable processing with overseas markets also opening up for farmers.
The minister also briefed farmers about the World Food India Fair being held on November 3-5 in Delhi.
She said the fair would work as a catalyst to boost food production as farmers could get needed investment and partnerships by participating in the event.
She said food processing companies as well as those representing the cold chain would participate in the fair and would provide turnkey solutions to farm entrepreneurs.
She said though the state government was yet to reply to her invitation, she said farmers of Punjab should not lose this opportunity and should participate in the fair.
Giving details of her ministry schemes and the impact they were likely to have on the nation, she said by injecting Rs 6,000 crore in the food sector, the country was likely to attract an investment of around Rs 31,000 crore in this sector.
She said this would lead to processing worth Rs one lakh crore and create direct and indirect jobs for around five lakh farmers besides employing around five lakh youth.
She also highlighted how the retail sector had become a six billion dollar market and how the food sector alone constituted 70 per cent of this market.
She also appealed to farmers to explore vegetable farming in a big way saying there was a huge demand for vegetable cultivation, including tomatos and companies were ready to give the needed support to make this a profitable venture for farmers.
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