Page 226 - All SFAC DOC file

Submitted by M/s,Pioneer Holon Agroecology Pvt Ltd

Model carrot cultivation in joint collaboration of Devitanla FPO and Pioneer
Holon Agroecology Pvt Ltd Under direct guidelines of Carrot King Col Deswal

Dear Mr Swain,

Please refer to your letter and various telephone calls. Firstly I congratulate you for getting a
large number of farmers from the Niali-Balipatna belt of coastal Odisha together to form
a FPO. Unity is strength and I firmly believe that with proper guidance, they will prosper.

As explained to you over phone, I have talked to Col Deswal and Mr L C Yadav who are two
of the best farmers of English Carrots having a lot of experience. They have promised to
render you all help. Col Deswal’s no is +919868267636 /+919837193579 . You may contact
him directly. I am advised that the seeds are available from a French company called
Clause. I am separately requesting them to send you an invoice for seeds
sufficient for planting for 200 acres. The cost of seeds are likely to be approximately Rs.16
lakhs. You may increase or decrease the quantity as you like.

As per Col Deswal, they have got a machine specially fabricated for bed-making and planting
of the carrot seeds. It is a copy of a foreign machine but costs much less than the imported
ones. The cost is approximately Rs.85000/- but along with transportation to Odisha, it may
come up to Rs.1 lakh. You may contact Col Deswal directly and place order so that the
machine may be available for planting in October.

Based on the study of agro-climatic data for Niali/Balipatana Blocks sent by you, we feel that
you should plan to plant carrot seeds in October and harvest them latest by the second half
of February as otherwise it gets too hot in Odisha.

As far as cultivation of Potato is concerned, as I explained to you over phone, this year as the
price of table potato in the market was very high, there is a lot of interest in sowing for the
next year. It is feared that potato will be planted on a much larger area than required which
may lead to a glut in the market at the time of harvest or immediately afterwards. Hence
potato crop is not likely to be a very profitable for the farmers this year.

Although the market price of seed potatoes has shot up due to high demand, I am glad that
you have arrange for some seeds from CIT Bhubaneswar at a subsidised price. Even then I
would advise you to:
a. arrange for additional capacity of cold storage for storage of potatoes for a few months so that farmers
do not have to resort to distress sale immediately after harvest.
b. set apart some area for growing seed potatoes which can be kept for next season

I have checked for the possibility of availing of grants and subsides from the Government .
There are not many schemes for subsidising open cultivation of vegetables. I am not aware if
Odisha Government is providing any financial assistance under the Potato project. However,
NABARD may assist you under their scheme for FP0’s through NABKISAN Finance Limited.
Please go through their website http://nabkisan.org/products.php or contact the cGM,
Nabard at Bhubaneshwar.
In case you wish to build a new cold storage or substantially expand your existing cold store,
National Horticulture Board or NHM can provide subsidy. If you require, I can ask my office
to prepare a DPR and loan application for seeking assistance from available sources.
---------------------------------------------
With regards,
Jayasree Balaji
Senior Manager

Page 215 of 275