Guwahati: Assam Government has urged the Centre to support the cold?chain development project in Assam for the benefit of farmers and consumers.
Agriculture Minister Nilamani Sen Deka said here today that during the last decade, the state had witnessed significant growth in the horticultural sector but due to non-existence of cold-chain, the post harvest loss in the state was to the tune of 40 per cent.
The productivity of total fruits in Assam was estimated to be 12.80 MT per hectare which is higher than the national average of 11.70 MT/Ha during 2010-11.
During 2011-12, the state produced 17.75 lakh fruits and 45.14 lakh MT of vegetables but there incurred loss due to lack of cold-chain in the state.
A state level workshop on cold chain development was organized by the Assam Directorate of Horticulture and Food Processing in collaboration with the National Centre for Cold-Chain Development (NCCD) here.
The workshop was attended among others by Additional Chief Secretary and Agricultural Production Commissioner V K Pipersenia who stressed on the low energy cold-chain in this region, NCCD Chief Advisor P Kohli and ICAR Zonal Project Director Dr A K Gogoi.
