The government of West Bengal is planning to open more than 20 kisan mandis (farmer markets) at block levels by January 2014. The mandis will have modern storage facilities in order to prevent distress sale of agriculture products.
The state government has proposed to open 341 mandis, one in each block. Of the total propsed, 95 mandis are under construction and expected to be ready in six months. The construction work will start for another 85 such mandis soon.
Besides, 50 warehouses for seeds which will entail an estimated investment of Rs 23 crore are also under construction. The state has released Rs 10 crore for this project.
Further, the state government has chalked out plans to introduce a crop insurance scheme for commercial crops. This scheme is aimed at helping the farmers recover their crop loss due to floods and other natural disasters.