Maharashtra Agriculture Minister and Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board chairman Jaykumar Rawal has called for large-scale investment in infrastructure, quality management, value addition and market-linked agricultural value chains, with a proposed hub-and-spoke model for strengthening farm-to-market systems.
Rawal made the remarks during the concluding session of the Magnet Agri Business Infrastructure Investor Meet held in Mumbai. The meeting brought together investors, industry representatives, exporters, farmer-producer companies, processing businesses, retailers and financial institutions, according to the minister.
The state government’s focus is on improving infrastructure around bananas, mangoes and citrus crops. Rawal said farmer-level aggregation systems, primary handling facilities, quality management and direct links with markets need to be strengthened in these crop segments. The emphasis places the first stages of the supply chain closer to producing farmers while connecting them to larger processing, storage and distribution facilities.
Under the hub-and-spoke model outlined at the meeting, spoke facilities would operate at the farmer level to support the aggregation and primary handling of agricultural produce. Hub facilities would provide modern processing, cold storage, value addition and infrastructure required for exports, Rawal said.
The model is intended to link dispersed agricultural production with larger infrastructure and market facilities. In practical terms, the proposed arrangement separates the initial collection and handling of produce from the more capital-intensive activities of processing, refrigeration, value addition and export preparation. The minister did not disclose specific project locations, investment amounts, participating companies or implementation timelines in the statement reported by Loksatta.
The announcement comes as Maharashtra seeks to move beyond its production capacity by improving the systems that connect farms with buyers and markets. The minister said the state has strong agricultural production potential, but that the next stage of development would require investment across infrastructure, quality systems, value addition and market-connected value chains.
The presence of farmer-producer companies, exporters, processors, retailers and financial institutions at the investor meet indicates that the proposed infrastructure is being considered across multiple stages of the agricultural supply chain. However, the available account does not specify whether the meeting resulted in signed agreements, formal expressions of interest or sanctioned projects.
Other officials present included MLA Charansing Thakur, Marketing Secretary Pravin Darade, Marketing Director and Maharashtra Agricultural Marketing Board executive director Sanjay Kadam, general manager Vinayak Kokare and investors. The next steps, including project approvals, investment commitments, locations and delivery schedules, were not announced in the supplied report.
