Bengal eyes foreign funds for foods

West Bengal needed "private and foreign" investments for improving agri-marketing mechanism, said chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at the India International Potato Expo 2008 in Kolkata on Wednesday.

He also urged for more value-added potato exports from West Bengal.

While West Bengal produces 7 million ton (mn.t) of potatoes annually, its consumption is close to 5mnt..

"We can either export the excess production or process it. We need private and foreign players to join us to improve the market. For example, in West Asia there is a great demand for potato powder, which West Bengal can export," he said. The chief ministers' view was echoed Jairam Ramesh, Union minister of state for commerce.

India's share in the world potato trade was close to 0.5 per cent, with the bulk exports taking place to Sri-Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Nepal, he said. The country should look for value-added potato export in niche markets like the West Asia and the Far East, he added.

However, high import duty on Indian processed food imposed by the developed countries, provided limited opportunities for growth, he said.

While the developing countries should reduce tariffs on value-added products, India should offer same facilities to the lesser developed countries like Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh, he said.

Bhattacharya claimed farmers growing groundnut, cotton and sugarcane were struggling for better prices in other parts of the country.

The situation of agriculture in West Bengal was better, he claimed without giving any data.

"Our position is little different from other parts of the country because of land reforms and rural administration. We have the highest rice and vegetable production in the country," the chief minister said without referring to any data.

Only about 27 per cent of Indian farmers had access to bank credit facilities, he added.

However, the state needed more food processing units, particularly for potato, he admitted.

"Though we have 400 cold storages, that is not enough. We must have more cold storages. Another problem is for potato seeds we are dependent upon Punjab," he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Subodh Kant Sahai, minister for food processing industries industries said, farmers of those states which had amended the Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) Act got better prices than those in other states.