Shimla: Confederation of Indian Industries Himachal Pradesh organized a day long conference on “Apple Marketing and Post Harvest Management – Buyer Seller Meet and Linking Farmers to the Markets” at Shimla.
Cabinet Minister for Horticulture, Public Health & Irrigation, Vidya Stokes was Chief Guest of conference and while speaking at the event, minister reaffirmed the commitment of the government to strengthen the apple marketing and post harvest infrastructure in the state. She said that Himachal over the years has become model hill state for development of horticulture and state Govt was working on sustainable growth of apples against climate change.
Principal Secretary, Home & Horticulture Tarun Shridhar emphasized on the need for accurate data on post harvest losses and investments in pre-harvest technologies, branding and marketing of apples. Shridhar said that we must focus on quantitative as well as qualitative aspects of apple cultivation so as to build the confidence of the growers as well as consumer.
J C Sharma, Managing Director, HP Horticultural Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Limited (HPMC), detailed out ambitious plans for revival of HPMC, Whereas, R P Meena, Director General, National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), revealed its initiatives to create linkages between farmers and the buyers and assured all possible help and assistance to the Government of Himachal in this regard.
