Now, E-portal for Indian farmers

NEW DELHI, INDIA: A new e-portal serving as a one stop information source for all stakeholders of the Indian food industry was launched here Wednesday.

Food Processing Industries Minister Subodh Kant Sahai inaugurated the new portal, eFreshindia.com.

"We are still wasting Rs30,000 crore (Rs.300 billion) worth of agriculture produce every year and that is because farmers do not have acccess to information besides lack of infrastructure, cold storage chain and links with industry," he said.

Lauding the initiative to launch the portal, the minister urged the people behind it to approach the farmers first and fill their information needs, rather than of the big retailers.

The portal has been developed and operationalised by IL&FS Education and Technology Services (IL&FSETS). eFresh.com BV of the Netherlands has given the linkage to the interantional portal, eFresh.com.

Later, interacting with the media, the minister said the information on weather and seasonal agricultural crops that the new portal would provide would help farmers go for multiple cropping.

Joost Van Odjik, managing director of eFresh.com BV, said India has one of the largest food baskets in the world.

"India has to play a pivotal role in world food production," he added.

The portal will link input suppliers and service providers with the primary food producers or farmers and then with transporters, packaging and storage facilities, food processing units, wholesalers and retailers right up to the family dining table.

The information will be available in English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi, and will later be in all other regional languages.