J&K has 3.4 lakh mt capacity of cold storages: Agri Minister

Srinagar, Dec 23: Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Arjun Munda informed Lok Sabha that Jammu and Kashmir has a total 341,515 metric tonnes capacity of cold storages.
Recently, Munda in a written reply in Lok Sabha shared the State/UT-wise distribution of cold storages in the country which mentioned that Jammu and Kashmir has a total capacity of 341,515 metric tonnes of cold storages in 89 cold storages (as on 20.11.2023).
It was also informed that the Government of India has extended financial assistance amounting to Rs 1463 crore to 28 cold storages in Jammu and Kashmir in the last five years.
As per the study conducted by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) in 2015 on “All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (AICIC-2015)”, required capacity of cold storages at that time was 351.00 lakh MT against the existing capacity of 318.23 lakh MT in 2014.
As per available information, currently, there are 8653 cold storages in the country with the capacity of 394.17 lakh MT.
Annually, J&K produces 2 million metric tonnes of apples, out of which 800,000 metric tonnes are of A-grade quality. Immediately after harvest, 400,000 metric tonnes of high-quality apples are sold in fruit mandis. To counter post-harvest losses and financial difficulties for apple growers, Controlled-atmosphere (CA) storage has been a savior.
Officials said the UT government, under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP), has taken several steps to construct cold storage facilities in both the public and private sectors, with priority given to apple-producing regions.
The Union Minister has further informed that the Government is implementing various schemes under which financial assistance is available for setting up of cold storage for perishable horticultural produce throughout the country.
“Though, to avoid damage to the agriculture/horticulture produce, besides Cold Storage, financial assistance is also provided for setting up of Pre-cooling Unit, Cold Room, Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, Preservation unit, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH),” he has said.
The components are demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Missions (SHMs).