Haryana Government has engaged M/s Ernst and Young LLP (EY) to conduct value chain studies for important horticulture crops of the state.

Value chain studies have been completed on six important crops in the state that is Kinnow, tomato, potato, strawberry, capsicum and ginger, said an official spokesman.

He said that this report was presented in the General Body meeting of Small Farmer Agri-Business Consortium Haryana (SFACH) chaired by Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare department, Sumita Misra. During the study various gaps were noticed at production, harvest, post-harvest and marketing stage.

The spokesman said that EY in collaboration with Horticulture Department and Small Farmer Agri-Business Consortium Haryana (SFACH) is addressing these gaps at every stage of the value chain and handholding the FPOs in quality management and marketing of the produce. By way of the market linkages of FPOs with modern retailers and processing industries, significant increase in the income of FPOs has been observed, he said

The state has taken major strides in horticulture development through handholding support of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPO) by collectivization of farmers, through Crop Cluster-Based approach, the spokesman added. On this occasion, Dr. Arjun Singh Saini, Director General Horticulture Department, Dr. Hardeep Singh, Director General Agriculture Department, Dr. Ranbir Singh, Joint Director Horticulture and senior Officers of horticulture department and other line departments were present.