The Haryana government wants the newly-installed infrastructure,for its ripening chambers and controlled atmosphere chambers at the mandis of the state in nine cities and towns of the state,functional by June. These mandis have now been developed as commodity hubs by the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board at Panchkula,Hisar,Gurgaon,Rohtak,Karnal,Shahbad,Narnaul,Panipat and Abubshahar. The functioning of these chambers is being outsourced by the board. The board had earlier invited tenders for the ripening chambers and storage chambers. The tenders will open on May 12. Chief Engineer of the board Prem Singh said the new facilities will be operational by June. The produce brought by the farmers or commission agents is kept in the ripening chambers till it is ready for sale. Simultaneously,the produce which is awaiting sale is kept at specific temperature and humidity levels in the controlled atmosphere chambers,to increase its shelf life. Officials add that once these chambers start functioning,all the produce that is brought here for ripening or storage will have to be recorded. The common practice in almost all mandis is that the entire produce received there is not recorded,to avoid paying the mandi fee. For one truck coming into the mandi,the charges are Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000. This money is often not paid,and is divided between traders and mandi officials. This practice will not be possible once farmers bring their produce to the new ripening or storage chambers, said an officer of the board. Since the functioning of the chambers has been outsourced,the private group manning the areas will ensure that all the produce kept here is recorded and paid for, added the officer. The persons who take the running of the chambers on contract will have to charge the rates fixed by the government from farmers or traders who want to keep their produce here. The charges are between at Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,125 per tonne. Of these nine commodity hubs,three hubs have special ripening and controlled atmosphere chambers for the major produce of the area. The Karnal hub has special facilities for tomatoes,the Yamunanagar hub for mangoes,and the Abubshahar hub for kinnow. Other fruits and vegetables can also be stored at these hubs. But since these three hubs specialise in a particular fruit or vegetable,we have provided special facilities for them, said an official.
