Yoga guru Ramdev has announced plans to set up a mega food park in Rajasthan. At the Global Rajasthan Agritech Meet he said his Patanjali group, which is entering into dairy and spices segments, can buy farm produce worth Rs 5,000-10,000 crore from farmers in the state. “Patanjali is coming in large scale in spices. We will purchase them from Rajasthan and other states and process,” he said. He added that besides spices, the company will also make available cow milk.He said his group is gearing up to buy milk from the state from next year. “If we get sufficient milk, we can leave behind Amul though we have no competition with it.” He asked farmers of the state to grow aloe vera, gooseberry, giloy, ashwagandha, pearl millet and said that he was ready to purchase the produce in maximum quantity. “We are ready to purchase those produce worth even 5 to 10 thousand crore rupees,” he said. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje stated that the state stands committed to transforming its agricultural landscape by actively promoting global best practices.” With surplus production of food grains, milk and pulses, the state is geared up to adopt multiple innovations such as digital soil mapping, use of drones for effective input management, employing innovative protected cultivation methods, zero budget natural farming and technology enabled traceability systems,” she said.

(Source: etretail.com, 10 November 2016)