Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the State was poised to usher in the next agri revolution with focus on technology driven agriculture which would open the world markets for the produce of the Punjab farmer.Addressing a session on Investment in Food and Agriculture Processing at the Progressive Punjab Agriculture Summit here, Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal said the State was ready to partner with farmers and institutions worldwide to enable Punjab farmers to upgrade their technology skills. He said the tripartite agreement between Universities of Punjab and Netherlands as well as progressive farmers of the State was a direction in this regard.The Deputy CM stressed that the export of fruits and vegetables from Punjab was one of the top priorities of his government and that it would work to increase export of Kinnow fruit as well as frozen vegetables. He said simultaneously farmers would be encouraged to go in for innovate agri practices including direct seeding of paddy to save water as well as initiatives in the Animal Husbandry sector which were aimed at increasing the milk yield of small farmers.
Answering a query regarding Food Processing, Mr. Badal said Punjab was focusing on food processing and that the new investment policy had already resulted in companies like ITC and Cargill deciding to establish processing facilities in Punjab. He said ITC is being setting up Rs. 800 crore Food Park near Kapurthala, which will cater the food processing requirements of North Region while Cargill will establish country one of the biggest maize based Cattle Feed Plant at Bathinda.Answering another query Mr. Badal informed there were 400 companies directly related to agriculture sector showcased their products, out of which more than 50 were international companies based at Netherland, Italy, Taiwan, United Kingdom etc. When asked about the high quality breeds of cattle in Punjab, Mr. Badal said Punjab is coming with a world class Semen Bank at Nabha at a cost of Rs. 130 crore and land for this purpose has already been earmarked.
Bharti group Vice Chairman Rakesh Bharti Mittal praised the initiatives being taken by the Punjab government on the agri processing front, saying his company itself was a beneficiary since it had been granted 300 acres of land near Ludhiana to set up a vegetable processing hub. He suggested changes in the agricultural policy to allow farmers to sell their fruits and vegetables to private players directly.Pepsico Executive Director Vivek Bharti said agri processing was set to get a boost with the Punjab government providing the right atmosphere for establishment of processing units. He urged private players to set up shop in Punjab, saying his company was procuring 70,000 tones of potato annually.Others who spoke on the occasion included Achyuth Iyengar from Cargill, N S Brar from Agro Foods, Saraswati Sugar Mill’s Chairman Mr. Ranjit Puri, Nahar Group MD Mr. Kamal Oswal and Rajinder Gupta of Trident group. Others present included chief parliamentary secretary Mr. N.K. Sharma, Secretary Industries Mr. Karan Avtar Singh and Mr. Vivek Partap Singh, Director Industries. EOM