State to prepare road map on agri-business activities
Kolkata: Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi on Saturday indicated the constitution of core groups, involving agriculture marketing and other allied departments and wings of the state government, for preparing a road map on agri-business activities for implementation in districts.
An 'Agri-Business Meet-2022' was organised at the Nabanna Sabhaghar under the chairmanship of Dwivedi where some concrete suggestions and inputs were received for developing a road map for agri-business in an integrated cluster-based approach that will be taken forward by the departments.
The core groups will have agri-business industry people as members and there will be timelines for implementation of the roadmap for agriculture & allied sector.
Around 220 participants from sectors dealing in agriculture related business attended the meet. Big players in the agri and allied sectors associated with agriculture and horticulture, like in retail chain and cold chain business, were also present.
Self-sufficiency in fish production by improving cultivation practices was discussed in detail and industry delegates showed keen interest to invest in marine and aqua sector in the state. FPOs presented their experiences of organising the farmers and linking market in a big way in several districts.
"The meeting was intended to strengthen the market linkage and facilitate improving agri-business of the state in oil seeds, pulses, maize, vegetables and fruits, poultry feed, fisheries and fish feed, rice bran oil, food processing and value addition in agri & allied activities with the main aim of furthering job opportunities in the said sectors and augmentation of income of the farmers," a senior official present in the meeting said.
The Chief Secretary highlighted that there has been rapid increase in agricultural scenario of Bengal under the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Bengal is the leading producer of rice, jute, vegetables and fish seeds.
A staggering 7-fold increase has been made in maize production. Pulses production registered a growth of 2.5 times and oilseeds production 1.5 times.
Additional Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries/Secretaries, senior and field level officials from the departments of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing, Animal Resources Development, Food Processing Industries & Horticulture, Fisheries, Food & Supplies, Cooperation, Micro Small and Medium Enterprise and Textile, Panchayat and Rural Development and Industry, Commerce and Enterprises participated in the meet.
