South Gujarat,known as the Agriculture Export Zone (AEZ) for vegetables and fruits,will soon become a contemporary wholesale hub for fruits and vegetables.
It will be set up under a project initiated by the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) of Surat in partnership with the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC).
This modern wholesale hub is a Rs 700-crore project to be established in Abhwa village of Surat. Twenty-six collection centres will be set up in Surat,Tapi,Valsad,Bharuch,Narmada,Navasari and Dangs. Products like fruits,vegetables,grains,spices and flowers will be marketed here. The project aims to revamp the traditional markets to modern wholesale hubs.
APMC Chairman Raman Patel said: “We are introducing this project in order to boost the agriculture sector of Gujarat. Agriculture is the least promoted or marketed sector. So,we thought of coming up with a huge project for agriculture and especially for the farmers of south Gujarat. All sectors have accepted modern technologies of trade and now agriculture will also go the tech way.”
According to APMC officials,a modern hub will be constructed on 125 hectares of land,which will be connected to the collection centres. The handling capacity of the hub will be 17 million metric tonnes (MT) per annum. Produce halls,electronic auctions and specialised cold storages will also be set up.
The hub will also have facilities of refrigerated transport,loading and unloading docks and sorting and grading lines to ensure smooth functioning. The collection centres will have plastic crates,lodging and unloading bay,water supply and required IT infrastructure.
“This will be a world-class market,which will boost the export business of Gujarat. South Gujarat exports the highest number of vegetables and fruits from India. This is the first time a hub displaying the entire process of collecting agriculture produces to selling the waste as fertilisers,will be located at one spot,” said Patel.
In order to create a support infrastructure for the project,APMC is also planning to establish hotels,restrooms,modern retail outlets of the products,locker rentals and business centres to boost the export of the products.
Additionally,farmers are expected to get a regular supply opportunity with this hub. APMC also plans to set up a training centre for the farmers to counsel them on techniques of crop production,selection of crops and harvesting methods.
“We have already spoken to the people at the grassroots level. The government has also shown an interest in this project,as this is a sole big project for the agriculture sector. We have got the approval from the government for the same and are planning to finish the project in 18 months. We are only waiting to finalise the land for the collection centres,” said Neelesh Thorat,secretary,APMC.
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