Shimla: A seminar on “Potential & Road Map For Promoting Horti Exports From Hp†is being organised by Agriculture & Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) in association with PHD Chamber on Friday, 19th March 2010 at Hotel Peter Hoff, Shimla.
Agriculture being the main occupation of the people of Himachal Pradesh has an important role in the economy of the state. Himachal Pradesh has been endowed with a wide range of agro climatic conditions due to which it is an enormous storehouse of biological wealth and it has a vast scope for the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, flower herbs and medicinal and aromatic plants. After meeting the domestic demand, the State has enormous potential for exports of vegetables and processed foods based on fruits.
Inspite of huge potential, the Agri exports from the state is low. Some of obstacles that are hindering the growth of Agri Exports from Himachal Pradesh includes lack of market information, absence of internationally recognized pre harvest and post harvest practices, lack of technical knowledge, weak Industry and farmer linkage, lack of assistance for packaging, irradiation, disease free certification, quality control, infrastructure regarding transportation, logistics and cold storage.
Also quality of the raw material is not consistent due to absence of international pre-harvest and post harvest practices. There is no centralized nodal agency for regulating exports in the State.
The objective of the Seminar is to generate awareness about this potential to attract investment and to identify major issues that the states’ exporters face so that the same can be appropriately addressed and resolved. The seminar would provide a forum to the stakeholders to discuss and develop an integrated strategy to enhance the share of the state in India’s food exports and also the share of the country in the world food exports. Presentation on export promotion schemes, minimal acceptable global standards, etc shall be made by experts from Industry and government.
The participants here mainly comprise representatives of food processing and packaging industry, retailers, traders, exporters, food technologists and scientists, quality consultants, technology, inputs and service providers as well as financial institutions and banks. The representatives from various reputed organizations like HPMC, Global Agrisystems Ltd, YS Parimar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Dev Bhumi Cold Chain Ltd, Frick India Ltd, Quality Council of India, Himalayan Frozen Foods, Kejriwal Enterprises etc would address various important topics.
The seminar would be inaugurated by Shri Asit Tripathy, Chairman, Agriculture and Processed Food Export Development Authority (APEDA), Govt of India.
