FNB News - Maharashtra keen on tie-up with Poland for dairy, food processing

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DAIRY PRODUCTS

Maharashtra keen on tie-up with Poland for dairy, food processing

Saturday, 24 September, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]

Harcha Bhaskar, Mumbai

At a recent interaction co-organised by World Trade Centre Mumbai and All India Association of Industries, Mahadev Jankar, minister of animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries, government of Maharashtra, invited the government of Poland for dairy and food processing tie-ups in the state.

He said, “Maharashtra’s per-day milk production has risen from 80,000 litres to 7.5 lakh litres, paving the way for farmers to have an alternate source of livelihood, making it a potential sector for further development.”

“India, being the highest milk producing country in the world, employs 8.5 million workers in livestock activities, making its performance quite impressive. Maharashtra ranks first in buffalo population, second in cattle and goat population and third in sheep population,” Jankar said.

“Considering the potential this sector has, I invite the Polish government to consider investments and exchange of technologial know-how to bring about a revolution, which is in keeping with the government’s aim to start a dairy development programme with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) by which 2,000 villages of eleven districts will be benefited,” he added.

The minister stated that proposed investment would avert suicides as it would provide an alternative means of income in case of crop failure due to climatic conditions.

“Our government has already approved indigenous cow enhancement centre through our state and has initiated cage culture fishing, which will create employment of approximately one lakh,” he added.

Jankar said, “We are working towards equipping each farmer with five cattle, ten goats, a small poultry and a fish pond, aiming to provide an alternative financial means of livelihood. In keeping with the ease of doing business, our department will launch a one-window system to bring speedy clearances of proposals and transparency.”

Vijay Kalantri, vice-chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai, and president, All India Association of Industries, said, “India’s bilateral trade with Poland has grown almost sevenfold over the last ten years.”

“India has invested $3 billion in Poland, making it one of the most important countries to engage in business. The Central government has sanctioned a reasonable business for agriculture, which must be optimally used, keeping in mind the welfare of farmers and the agricultural community,” he added.

Kalantri raised concerns that as much as 40 per cent of agri-products perished before reaching the market. “This is where we need Polish expertise to develop food processing and warehousing technologies,” he stated.

He added, “The farmer does not get his due share in the agricultural revenue. We need to develop a proper chain, wherein farmers, agriculturalists and horiculturises are equally benefited and the middlemen are done away with.”

“In 2015, bilateral trade amounted to $2.2 billion. We have the expertise to handle 95 per cent of our food processing requirements, while India only handles ten per cent. This holds scope for Polish collaboration in this area. Polish apples are famous all over the world. We supply one crore apples every year to India. India could consider increasing mango exports,” Jaroslaw Olowski, deputy president, Agencja Rynku Rolnego (agricultural market agency), said.

He added that the Polish delegation was in India to understand the latter’s markets, its distribution channels, products and policies to strengthen trade, which would be combined with sales.

Olowski mentioned that Poland was number one in poultry, number two in milk, number three in beef, number four in pork, number five in fruit, number six in vegetables and number seven in honey.

He added that the country employed cutting-edge technology, high capacity and high efficiency, which could cater to Indian tastes.

Tomasz Lubaszuk, Poland’s ambassador, said the European nation was looking forward to augment ties with India, especially in the agriculture and food processing sectors. “The embassy lends support to Indian business to set up base in Poland and vice versa. It can be contacted for any assistance,” he added.

Capt Somesh Batra, vice-chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai, proposed the vote of thanks. Recognising the strengths of Polish agriculture and dairy industries, he said Poland had grown, particularly in the agriculture sector, since it acquired democratic status. Forty-seven of the land is utilised for agriculture.