announcement to set up mega food perk in the state

Kolkata, Jan 19 (UNI) Describing agriculture as a 'sucess story' for Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today announced his plan to set up six food processing parks in the state.

Highlighting the potential of growth of the agricultural sector in the state, Mr Bhattacharjee said Bengal had achieved a growth rate of 4 per cent against the national growth rate of 2 per cent.

He also added that agriculture contributes almost 26 per cent towards the state's domestic product followed by industry (24 per cent).

Speaking at a seminar on 'Emerging Opportunities in Agri and Food Processing Industry with special reference to the eastern region' he said since the state experiences six climatic zones it was ideal for multi crop production.Emphasising the needs for cold chains, supply chains, storage and logistics he said the state produced nearly 11.6 millions vegetables in 2006 but due to lack of proper market mechanism 10-13 per cent of the produce perished.

He also discussed the opportunities present in the eastern region's rich variety of horticulture and agri food produce ranging from rice to fruits and vegetables.

The state is also planning to set up the six food parks with P-P-P (public-private partnership) model, the chief minister said.

He said major retail giants like Walmart, Reliance,Pantaloons and ITC had expressed their interest to invset in the state which would ultimately benefit the farmers and consumers alike.

Announcing 2007 to be the food processing technology year, Union Food Processing Minister Subodh Kant Sahay said Bengal is one of the front running states in India in food and agro-processing sector.Thus good investment opportunities exist in areas of food processing industries, the important ones being fruit and vegetables processing, confectionaries, fast foods, beverages, meat, fish and poultry processing, and milk products.

He also stressed on the importance of contract farming and requested the government not to exceed tax in this sector to more than 4 per cent.

Deputy Chief of Mission of US Embassy Geoffrey Pyatt said India's agricultural productivity depended on better market linkages from farm-to-table and wiser application of science and technology."As the US did with the first Green Revolution we want to help Indian farmers to harness information gained from agricultural research and private sector experience to apply that directly in the farm," he added.

The seminar was organised by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce(IACC) in collaboration with the Ministry of Food Processing of West Bengal. It highlighted emerging Indo-US opportunities in food processing.

Among others Minister Councilor of US Embassy Carmine D'Alosio, US Consul General Henry Jardine and dignitaries from Bengal, Orissa and Assam were present.

Major players from the US processed food industry, including a 10 member delegation representing the top American companies, attended the seminar to explore the oppurtunities to set up manufacturing bases in eastern India.

UNI