India, ADB sign USD 100 million loan agreement for agribusiness development in Maharashtra | Daily Current Affairs Dose

India, ADB sign USD 100 million loan agreement for agribusiness development in Maharashtra | Daily Current Affairs Dose

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India, ADB sign USD 100 million loan agreement for agribusiness development in Maharashtra | Daily Current Affairs Dose

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $100 million loan agreement to promote agribusiness networks to boost farm incomes and reduce food losses in the State of Maharashtra.

Read Also: India, ADB sign $300 million loan agreement to expand rural connectivity in Maharashtra | Daily Current Affairs Dose

The Agreement Signed by

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance signed for the Government of India, the agreement for the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET) Project, while Takeo Konishi, Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission signed for ADB.

Key Highlights

The project supports agribusiness development in Maharashtra with holistic support to on-farm improvement in productivity, up-gradation of post-harvest facilities, and establishing efficient marketing structures to benefit horticulture producers.

Read Also: India, ADB sign USD 4.5 million loan agreement to support urban mobility in Mizoram | Daily Current Affairs Dose

The project will help small and marginal farmers in Maharashtra improve their post-harvest and marketing capacity, reduce food losses, and increase incomes through access to finance, capacity building, and horticulture value chain infrastructure development. 

Though Maharashtra produces 11% and 6% of India’s fruit and vegetable production, respectively, and accounts for about 8% of the country’s floriculture exports, most smallholder farmers lack capital to scale up and do not have direct access to emerging high-value markets. 

The ADB loan will help provide financing opportunities for farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and value chain operators (VCOs) through matching grants and financial intermediation loans to support 300 subprojects.

The project will upgrade 16 existing post-harvest facilities and construct 3 new ones to provide individual farmers and FPOs clean, accessible, and sustainable crop storage and processing facilities. It will also build the capacity of farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and value chain operators (VCOs) on value chain acceleration and post-harvest handling and management, especially those owned and led by women. The project is expected to benefit 200,000 farmers.

Important facts for upcoming exams from the above Current Affairs Topic

• Formation of Maharashtra: 1 May 1960
• Capitals of Maharashtra: Mumbai and Nagpur (Winter)
• Largest city of Maharashtra: Mumbai
• Total Districts in Maharashtra: 36
• Governor of Maharashtra: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Uddhav Thackeray (Shivsena)
• Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar (NCP)
• Total number of assembly seats in Maharashtra: Bicameral Assembly (288 seats)
• Parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra: Rajya Sabha (19 seats), Lok Sabha (48 seats)
• Total Population of Maharashtra (2021): 124,700,000 (2nd)
• Official languages of Maharashtra: Marathi
• Literacy rate in Maharashtra (2011): 82.34%
• Sex ratio in Maharashtra (2011): 929 ♀/1000 ♂