India expands cold storage for Kashmir apple growers

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The Jammu and Kashmir Agriculture Production Department has announced plans to expand Controlled Atmosphere (CA) storage capacity across the Union Territory to meet the rising demand from apple growers and improve post-harvest management.

In a written reply to a question raised by MLA Waheed-ur-Rehman Para during the recent assembly session, the Minister in charge of Agriculture Production said the estimated CA storage requirement for Jammu and Kashmir is 600,000 metric tons, covering about 30% of annual fruit production. The current available capacity is 292,000 metric tons.

“The department is contemplating increasing the CA storage capacity in the next five years,” the statement said. The government has allocated funds under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and is providing additional subsidies through the Union Territory Capex budget to attract private investment.

Awareness programs are being held in each district to inform young entrepreneurs about available incentives for setting up CA facilities and other post-harvest infrastructure. Most existing CA stores are located in the Industrial Growth Centre at Lassipora, Pulwama, and the Industrial Estate at Aglar, Shopian. The department noted that coordination with the Industries and Commerce Department is underway to establish sector-specific industrial estates for horticulture in other districts.

On the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS), the department said the program was first introduced in 2019 to facilitate the procurement of apples through the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation Ltd (NAFED). It was intended to support growers by ensuring timely marketing during challenging seasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Regarding crop insurance, the department said that under the Re-structured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS), apple, saffron, mango, and litchi crops have been included for coverage. The tendering process to select insurance companies to administer the scheme is currently in progress.

Source: Rising Kashmir

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