India's fresh produce supply chain has been given a boost thanks to four new modern cold storage facilities that could help transform the prospects of farmers and exporters across the country.

The cold-storage project in India will see four new centres soon becoming operational in the Aurangabad region, which is a district of Marathwada - a major agricultural territory in the state of Maharashtra with many grape and mango producers.

The facilities will be based in Karmad, Tirthpuri, Beed and Majalgaon and will have pre-cooling facilities that are capable of storing perishable fresh produce and fitted with temperature management technology.

In addition, many more similar centres will be built throughout 2014 as part of a wider project designed to improve the country's export possibilities. It is understood there could be up to 20 centres built in total, many of which are currently in various stages of development and construction.

"There are four centres at this point in time and we are very pleased to say they will all be fully operational very soon. This will have a transforming effect for Indian farmers and exporters who want to use the facilities to store fresh goods," a Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) spokesperson told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"We are all hoping things will become much better in the future with more exports of fruit and vegetables out on India. We have excellent quality fruit which we want the world to taste."

The facilities have been sanctioned under 'Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana', a national agricultural development scheme first launched in 2007 as part of a long-term Indian Government-funded plan designed to increase growth in the agricultural sector.

The Maharashtra state has emerged as the largest exporter of grapes in the country and has a developing mango export market with increasing volumes supplied overseas to destinations including China, Japan and Hong Kong.

However exports of mangoes from India into the E.U. have been hampered recently after member states announced a ban a few weeks ago amid concerns over high contamination of non-European fruit flies. The ban will last until December 2015 and has halted plans of some Indian mango exporters to expand deals in the European market.

Photo: t3rmin4t0r, via Flickr Creative Commons

www.freshfruitportal.com