Raipur, June 17, 2025 / A major initiative is being launched in Dantewada district to preserve the produce from farming and forests for a long time and to provide farmers with the full value of their hard work. For the first time, the Central Government and the Government of Chhattisgarh are building a modern center in Patarras village of the district, where technology like radiation will be used to prevent cold storage, food grains and forest produce from spoilage. This work is being done under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana. This is the first of its kind facility to be built at the government level in the entire country. This project will change the picture of Bastar.
*Now the produce will not be wasted, income will increase*
In the Bastar region, produce like tamarind, mahua, wild mango, native spices and coarse grains like millet are produced. But due to lack of facilities to preserve and sell them properly, 7 to 20 percent of the produce gets spoiled every year. Now, the facility being built will have cold storage, freezer, radiation machine, and large trucks to carry goods. This will allow these things to be kept safe for a long time. The durability of the products will increase, wastage will stop and farmers will get more prices.
*What will be in this facility*
The cost of this project is around Rs 25 crore and it is being run by the District Project Livelihood College Society. This institution is especially established to increase employment in tribal areas. The project being built in Patarras village will have a cold storage with a capacity of 1500 metric tonnes, a frozen storage of 1000 metric tonnes, 5 small cold rooms, a blast freezer to cool fruits quickly, a separate chamber for ripening things, a radiation machine to prevent things from spoiling for a long time, 3 large trucks to carry goods and a 70 kilowatt solar system to save electricity.
This facility will prove helpful in preserving more than 10 thousand metric tonnes of produce every year and its benefit will be available to the farmers and forest produce collectors of districts like Bastar, Bijapur, Sukma, Kondagaon and Narayanpur, besides Dantewada. For this project, Rs 10 crore will be spent from the Central Government’s scheme and Rs 14.98 crore from the District Mineral Fund. So far, most of the work on such projects has been done by private companies, but for the first time the government itself is building such a facility, which will also strengthen the trust in government schemes in tribal areas.
*Employment and income will increase*
This facility is expected to generate a revenue of approximately Rs 8.5 crore per annum. Its direct benefit will be to the farmers, forest produce collectors and local youth, because people will be needed to work here. This will increase employment in rural areas and many people will be able to get employment in their own village. This initiative will also prove helpful in the direction of permanent employment and peace in the areas affected by Left-wing extremism.
*Work will start soon, the market is ready*
Land has been acquired for this facility and an agreement has also been signed with BRIT, the institution providing radiation technology. It will take about 24 months to complete the work, i.e. the facility will be fully operational in 2 years. The administration has also prepared markets in big cities like Raipur and Visakhapatnam, from where the products made in Bastar will be sent to the country and abroad. The special thing is that a plan is also being made to create a special brand in the name of Bastar, so that the products here have a separate identity and can get more prices.
Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai says that this is not just a project, but the foundation of the future of tribal brothers and sisters. Our forest produce collectors and farmers will now get better prices for their products, the goods will not be spoiled for a long time and they will be able to connect directly to the big market. This entire system will be run by the people of Bastar, for the people of Bastar.
This project is proof that if policy, government resources and people’s hard work come together, the village economy can also shine. This model will now become an example for other tribal areas as well, where tribal communities can get both their rights and respect. This project will give a new dimension to the picture of Bastar.