Rourkela: There is good news for 5,000 women farmers engaged in vegetable cultivation in four blocks of Sundargarh district. They will not have to engage in distress sales anymore as four cold storages, each with a capacity of 30 tonne, are being constructed in this city. This cold storage will have a double function.
On one hand, farmers can store there produces in the cold storage, while residents of this city can avail of fresh vegetables all through the year. This information was given by deputy commissioner of Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC), Sudhanshu Bhoi here Tuesday. The cold storages are being constructed at an expense of Rs 8 crore. The amount has been sanction by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) after Rourkela found a place in the list of 15 best cities in the ‘International Bloomberg Mayor Challenge Contest’ in 2021. The results were announced in 2022. The move is aimed at ushering in financial and social growth for the local vegetable farmers and women self-help groups in Sundargarh district. When completed, the cold storages will be of great help to women farmers of Lathikata, Kuanrmunda, Nuagaon and Bisra blocks. The women farmers from these blocks travel daily to this city to sale their harvested vegetables.
However, they often have to resort to distress sale or throw away the leftover stock due to lack of cold storages. Now they will have the chance to store their produces. The construction of the cold storage at Traffic Gate Market locality in this city has been completed while construction of another one at Chhend is underway. The construction of two more cold storages at Ambabagan and Panposh Market will start soon, Bhoi informed. Assistant director Dushmant Behera of Rourkela Horticulture department said that all the four cold storages will be of great benefit to the women farmers. Now they will get a fair price for their produces and not worry about selling those at dirt cheap rates.
