Patna, Jun 04: People living in Dubai will be able to relish the vegetables produced by Bihar farmers as the state’s Cooperative Minister Prem Kumar on Wednesday flagged off the first consignment of vegetables for Lulu Mall, Dubai.
The first consignment containing 1500 kg of vegetables with the help of Bihar State Vegetable Processing and Marketing Cooperative Federation Ltd (VEGFED) was shipped for Lulu Mall, Dubai, from Dashrath Manjhi Institute of Labour and Employment Studies, Patna, Kumar said and added that consignment was sent to Varanasi from where it will be shipped further.
Cooperative Department’s Secretary Dharmendra Singh, VEGFED MD Prabhat Kumar, Joint Registrar Kamershwar Thakur and representatives of Fair Exports Ltd and unions associated with VEGFED were present on the occasion.
The consignment was sent with the help of Fair Exports Ltd for LuLu Mall on an experiment basis, Kumar said adding the first shipment contained 10 types of vegetables that included jackfruit, cauliflower, eggplant, bitter gourd, bottle gourd etc. Dubai’s LuLu Mall has demanded for 45 MT vegetables.
With “every dish filled with Bihari vegetables” (Har Thali Me Bihari Tarkari) being the mantra, the vegetables produced in Bihar has not only crossed the states’ borders but has crossed international boundary, the minister said and added that “it is a historic occasion for both cooperative and agriculture fields.”
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) played an important role in sending the shipment to Dubai, he said and added that the move would help state’s farmers in getting better price of their quality produce.
The shipment is an important step as it would open the doors for the farmers of Bihar to get the access to international market, Kumar while asserting that talks are on with Singapore for sending vegetables.
VEGFED has played an important role in providing quality seeds, plants, better technique to farmers for modern cultivation besides ensuring processing and marketing of the vegetables, he said.
In reply to a query, the minister said that 200 “Tarkari” retail outlets beside Sudha milk parour will be opened initially. “There is a plan to open 534 ‘tarkari’ retail outlets. As of now, plots have been identified for opening 200 outlets and funds have also been released for the same,” he said.
VEGFED committee will be set up in all the blocks of the state by June end, 2025, Kumar said that VEGFED committee has already been constituted in 495 blocks besides four unions.
VEGFED committee will be constituted in the remaining blocks of the state by June end, he said adding that nine unions and subsequently federation will also be formed by then.
In order to protect vegetable from decaying, a cold storage having capacity of 10 tonne has been constructed in all the blocks, besides 20 tonne capacity godowns have been built in all the blocks.
