Karnataka Plans To Develop Exclusive Shop For Farmers

After making bids for a farmers' airport and a port for kissans, Karnataka is embarking on a more realistic project "" an exclusive shop for farmers, a la Shopper's Stop in Mumbai or the AC market in Calcutta.

The one-stop shopping complex, which will be called Farmer's Stop, will cater to A to Z of the farmer's needs, including machinery, technology, seeds, tissue culture products and floriculture tools.

A brainchild of the Karnataka Agro Industries Corporation (KAIC), Farmer's Stop will be constructed in league with the private sector. It has been tentatively suggested that the KAIC provide the land at J C road for this purpose while the private parties construct and rent out space in the complex.

 

The one-stop shop project, the farmer's airport and the port venture are some of the schemes listed by the KAIC's new agro consultancy division.

The functions of the division, formed to guide entrepreneurs wishing to set up agriculture projects anywhere in Karnataka, would include preparation of feasibility reports to acquisition of government clearances. Consultancy services exist for every industry, except for agriculture. With the added advantage of being a government agency, we are stepping in to fill this gap," said principal consultant H S Prakash, who heads the KAIC agro consultancy division.

Karnataka has huge export potential which needs to be tapped. Take the example of floriculture projects, which have come up in large numbers," Prakash observed.

The consultancy division has prepared a list of 28 enterprises it intends to service or form joints ventures with. It has already received inquiries about setting up of a chain of cold storage houses for export produce, floriculture projects for cut flowers, Israeli kibbutz models in villages and a milk-processing unit.

Among the projects up for grabs are the kibbutz model farms project for various agri-horti crops at select places in Bijapur, north Canara and Dharwar, contract farming, hi-tech agro park for floriculture, mushroom and strawberry cultivation, medicinal and aromatic plants, an international auction house with Internet connection, bio-technology laboratories for tissue culture, bio-fertiliser, bio-pesticides on the lines of the Khoday's labs, small foreign 12 kva-65 kva thermal projects available for sale and quick installation in India, solar power projects either with Israeli or Canadian collaborations, ostrich farming, tender coconut in sachets business, development of Kolar airport and Karwar port as farmer's airport and sea port respectively.

The agro division, which has been formed sans any investment by the KAIC, charges a fee to its clients, based on the nature of the project, which could range between Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh. This division will scout around for new avenues to conduct business in the agriculture sector, gather information and provide advice on how to go about setting it up. It will also be involved in setting up of joint ventures in some of the projects.