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Patna, 31 July (HS). Agriculture Minister Mangal Pandey held a meeting with cold storage owners on Wednesday. This meeting was held regarding the closing of cold storages. The Agriculture Minister heard the problems of cold storage owners. The Agriculture Minister said that cold storage is being further improved to save the crops of farmers. Cold storage needs to be strengthened further so that farmers become financially stronger. Not just big cold storages, small cold storages are also very important for farmers.
Mangal Pandey said that the number of cold storages in the state has reduced. The government is working to solve the problems of cold storage owners. The Agriculture Minister said that the cost of setting up a cold storage unit is Rs 25 lakh. The government is spending Rs 12.50 lakh on setting up cold storage. He said that due to lack of rain, the process of giving diesel subsidy to farmers has started. The government is spending Rs 150 crore for diesel subsidy. The government has started the process of online application for diesel subsidy.
He informed that more than 60 percent of paddy has been planted in 18 districts of Bihar but due to less rainfall in other districts, paddy planting has been affected. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has specially directed the department to give diesel subsidy to the farmers. The department has started processing the application so that farmers get diesel subsidy as soon as possible.
It was revealed in this meeting that there are 12 such districts in Bihar where earlier cold storages were there but now they are closed. These include Madhubani, Nawada, Aurangabad, Banka, Saharsa, Jamui Munger, Jehanabad, Lakhisarai, Sheikhpura, Arwal and Shivhar. There are a total of 202 cold storages in Bihar in which 12.30 lakh metric tonnes of crops are being kept safe. Five cold storages belong to the co-operative committee while 197 cold storages are private.