State govt plans cold storage facility in Nashik city to reduce farm losses

Nashik: State govt is planning to establish a cold storage facility in Nashik city to reduce post-harvest loss of vegetables and horticultural produce, industries minister Uday Samant has informed the legislative council.Replying to a calling attention motion raised by MLC Pankaj Bhujbal, Samant said Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) would provide land for the project, while funding would be arranged by the state marketing department. He said a meeting chaired by marketing minister Jaykumar Rawal would be held soon to deliberate on the proposal and take necessary decisions.Samant said the proposal would be placed before the NMC general body after evaluating budgetary provisions and available funds.

“Following approval, suitable steps will be taken to ensure timely implementation,” he said, adding that establishing a cold storage facility within city limits would help curb spoilage of perishable agricultural produce and offer financial relief to farmers.Marketing Minister Jaykumar Rawal said the government is working towards developing an integrated system, including cold storage infrastructure, to minimise wastage of vegetables.

“A meeting of stakeholders will be convened shortly to finalise the roadmap,” he said.Earlier, Pankaj Bhujbal highlighted that Nashik witnesses large-scale production of vegetables and fruit crops, but in the absence of a modern agricultural produce marketing facility, farmers were often compelled to transport their produce to distant markets such as Mumbai. “This increases transportation costs significantly, leading to unavoidable financial losses,” he said.He said the lack of adequate cold storage infrastructure in the region results in large-scale spoilage of perishable commodities, causing substantial economic losses to farmers.The proposed facility is expected to strengthen post-harvest management in Nashik, a key horticulture hub, and enable farmers to secure better returns for their produce.