India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday signed a $100 million loan to boost agribusiness networks in Maharashtra to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses.
Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry Rajat Kumar Mishra said that the project supports agribusiness development in Maharashtra, including improving productivity, upgrading post-harvest facilities and establishing efficient marketing structures to benefit horticulture growers. .
The Finance Minister said that although Maharashtra produces 11% and 6% of India’s fruit and vegetable production, respectively, and accounts for about 8% of the country’s floriculture exports, most small farmers lack capital on a large scale. and do not have direct access. Emerging high value markets.
The ADB loan will help provide financing opportunities for Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Value Chain Operators (VCOs) through matching grants and financial intermediation loans to support 300 sub-projects.
The project will upgrade 16 existing post-harvest facilities and construct 3 new ones to provide clean, accessible and sustainable crop storage and processing facilities to individual farmers and FPOs. It will also build capacity of FPOs and VCOs on value chain acceleration and post-harvest management and management, especially those owned and led by women. The project is expected to benefit 200,000 farmers.
ADB will provide a technical assistance (TA) grant of $500,000 from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and $2 million from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, based on a grant to improve market relations for FPOs.
TA will establish crop-based centers of excellence network, promote innovative technologies in agribusiness and agri value chain, and support capacity building including asset and financial management capabilities of Magnet Society and Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board.
Takeo Konishi, country director of ADB’s India Resident Mission, said the project will help small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra improve their post-harvest and marketability, reduce food losses and access finance, capacity building and the horticulture value chain. It will help in increasing the income through the medium. infrastructure development.
“The project intervention is in line with ADB’s ongoing support for rural sector transformation in the state through mutually complementary projects to improve irrigation efficiency through rural electrification and enhance rural connectivity,” he said.
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