Last year, the state had inaugurated its first Cooperative Export House (CEH), a state-of-the-art facility, designed to offer comprehensive support to farmers, exporters and cooperatives to export their produces under a roof.
The project, despite its objectives of elevating the income and livelihoods of the farmers, traders and cooperatives by facilitating access to global markets and reducing mediator roles, has faced a disheartening response from the traders and cooperatives.
The project was launched by Union Home and Cooperative Minister Amit Shah in February 2023. It has 86 ground-floor shops, most of them have already been allotted to the traders and cooperatives, but only a couple of cooperatives, including Hafed and Vita, are consistently opening their establishments.
Hafed has prepared a blueprint to revive this ambitious project of the Union and the state government. It has started reaching out to the traders, farmers and cooperatives. “To rejuvenate the CEH, Hafed is developing an app, which will serve as a platform for connecting the farmers, traders, cooperatives and foreign buyers. The app, once operational, will require users to register before engaging in any business transactions. Hafed is actively encouraging the rice exporters, honey and fruit product entrepreneurs, and agricultural implement exporters to set up a shop at the CEH,” said Krishan Sheoran, GM of CEH.
Hafed has a plan to establish a quality testing lab on the first floor, a restaurant on the second floor and is exploring options for games and entertainment on the third floor to attract people.
He expressed hopes and said, “I have held meetings with the rice exporters, farmers involved in the business of honey, fruit products and others to come here and set up their counters. Some are showing interest.”
The CEH will serve as a comprehensive facility for branding, packaging, storage, transportation and documentation of agricultural products. The CEH will not only fulfil its original objectives but also serve as a model for similar endeavours in other states in the near future.
The CEH was earlier an agro mall constructed by the previous Congress government, but both the Congress and the BJP could not start the operations of the agro-mall. Subsequently, the state government developed the building into a CEH, emphasising its commitment towards promoting agricultural exports and cooperative endeavours.
