Indian government offering potato/tomato transportation subsidy
The government had decided to give a transportation subsidy of Rs 750 per tonne by road and Rs 1,150 per tonne by rail. For export to other countries, the government has promised to bear 25% of transportation costs, up to a maximum of Rs 10 lakh.
The state has witnessed potato sowing on 1,24,000 hectares, while tomato sowing is on over 45,000 hectares, resulting in a bumper crop. With such a large supply hitting the market the decision was made to encourage farmers to ship their produce, even with the current low market price.
Farmers in several villages have dumped their crop or fed it to cattle instead of incurring additional transportation cost.
"The decision has been taken to aid farmers who are getting low prices for their produce. The subsidy will aid transportation costs to farmers and help them send their produce to other states", said deputy chief minister Nitin Patel.
source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
