Kerala Horticulture Mission Calls on Farmers to Utilize Post-Harvest and Marketing Schemes

Quick Summary

• teh State Horticulture mission (SHM) Kerala is urging farmers, cooperatives, and agricultural agencies to utilize infrastructure projects funded by the Mission for post-harvest management and marketing of horticulture crops in 2025-26.
• A total of ₹30 crore has been allocated for these initiatives.
• Supported projects include solar crop dryers, integrated packhouses, cold rooms, pre-cooling units, primary processing units, rural markets progress, and reefer vans purchase.
• Eligible participants: individual farmers, public sector institutions like Kerala Agricultural University or Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK), ICAR-affiliated bodies, NGOs, farmer producer organizations (FPOs), self-help groups (SHG), entrepreneurs and also cooperatives involved in the farm sector.
• Subsidies offered:

– Farm-gate packhouses: Up to 50% assistance provided.
– Integrated packhouses costing up to ₹1.60 crore: 35% subsidy available.
– Subsidies ranging from 35%-40% offered for pre-cooling units (₹5 lakh), mobile pre-cooling units (₹30 lakh), cold rooms (₹52 lakh), rural markets costing ₹25 lakh and solar crop dryer systems. Reefer vans are also covered under this scheme.

• Applications must be submitted at District Horticulture Missions located in Krishi Bhavans or Principal Agricultural Offices by September 15.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The SHM Kerala’s initiative demonstrates a focused approach toward strengthening the agricultural supply chain through better post-harvest management systems and marketing support mechanisms across diverse crop categories like vegetables and plantation crops. By allocating ₹30 crore with significant subsidies-ranging between 35% to 50%-the program aims to reduce wastage during storage/transportation while enhancing value addition opportunities for produce.

This drive could significantly improve access to modern infrastructure like cold storage facilities or solar drying systems among small farmers who frequently enough struggle with such operational costs individually. Inclusive participation models encouraging FPOs, SHGs alongside larger institutions may lead to wider adoption rates while fostering localized entrepreneurship within farming sectors.

Focusing on request deadlines underscores administrative efficiency but highlights limited preparation time for smaller growers unfamiliar with bureaucratic processes such as filing applications-a possible area that may need outreach programs or technical aid for smoother stakeholder integration.

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