Govt to give 50% subsidy for fruit, vegetable transport to help farmers cut post-harvest loss, avoid distress sale

NEW DELHI: The government has issued guidelines to give 50% subsidy in a fixed timeframe for storing and transporting fruits and vegetables to prevent post-harvest losses and distress sale by farmers when prices fall. Subsidy will be disbursed if the price in notified production clusters falls below the average of the preceding three years or if it falls more than 15% from last year's price at the time of harvest. It will also be given if the price falls below the benchmark price for procurement, for a specified period. “Subsidy support for transport and storage of perishables shall go a long way in ensuring remunerative prices to farmers, reducing wastage and assuring seamless supply of perishables. The scheme guidelines are drafted in a manner that they are more broad based and easy to understand, ”said food processing minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Claims will be settled digitally in a time-bound manner, she said. "The proactive decision to go from tomato, onion and potato ...