Rajasthan government is exploring export prospects of agricultural produce from state's cooperative sector. For that the state government has roped in national-level multi-state cooperative societies – National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) and National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL).
While NCEL is focused on facilitating export of products in cooperative sector, NCOL is dedicated to promoting and boosting the trade of organic products.
Sourabh Swami, Managing Director of Rajfed, the marketing arm of agriculture department, said that the department has selected specific product from each district for taking cooperative society products from Rajasthan to the international market via NCEL and NCOL.
“These products will be made export-ready through NCEL; gaining international recognition for local products will enable local producers to increase their income and eliminate the need for middlemen,” he said.
Swami to integrate technologies
Swami, who had been working on technological advancement of the department ever since he joined, said that the NCEL portal would be integrated with Rajfed's procurement portal in future, allowing for comprehensive information regarding export-ready products to be accessed at the level of individual purchase-sale cooperative societies.
Anupam Kaushik, Managing Director of NCEL, said that the organisation has created a WhatsApp group covering all products. Group is available in 11 languages to facilitate direct communication with the societies.
“Society secretaries will be directly added to this group. Additionally, cooperative societies would be provided with the facilities of warehouses with a minimum capacity of 500 metric tonnes for storage and processing of agricultural products,” he said.
Kaushik also noted that 217 research reports have demonstrated that products from the cooperative supply chain fetch good prices in developed nations, making the cooperative export sector a realm of immense potential.
NCOL representative Vineet Kumar said that organic product operations in Rajasthan are being conducted through both the National Programme for Organic Production and Participatory (NPOP) and Guarantee System of India (PGS) schemes.
“In light of the success of the organic campaign in Nagaur district, the ‘Bharat Organic' product range will be made available at the ‘Super Bazars' of purchase-and-sale cooperative societies and at CONFED outlets,” he said.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
