BY MICHAEL FISHER
PANAJI: While the state horticulture department is working on introducing a fruit cart in the lines of vegetable cart and installing coolant devices (like trays) in the carts to keep vegetables and fruits fresh, the agriculture department has embarked on a massive agriculture promotion plan to construct an agriculture mall (agri-mall), the first of its kind in Goa, and probably the first in the whole of India.

On a 44,000-sq mt built-up area, the agri-mall will facilitate traders, buyers and sellers under the one-roof theme, which will be profitable for both, said Mr C D Phaldesai, secretary of the Goa State Agriculture Marketing Board, Margao.
The tender bids inviting consultants are currently being scrutinised. Once selected, the consultant will first plan the construction of the agriculture mall, foreseen to be a massive four or five stories spread building, said agriculture sources in the know.
The agri-mall project is the brainchild of Mr Mohan Amshekar, the chairman of the Goa Agriculture and Marketing Board.
Though the plan is to construct a series of such malls on the PPP (public-private partnership) model, the first mall to come up will be on the vacant plot within the Mapusa market yard, said Mr Phaldesai.
The mall is aimed at controlling inflated prices of essential commodities, as at present a regulation and pricing system for notifying the markets does not exist, said the sources. The Goa market urgently needs a price mechanism system for regulating and notifying all commodity prices, the urged.
The selected consultant scope of work includes developing the Mapusa yard, which is very spacious for constructing the agriculture mall. The mall is available for both public and private retailers. It will consist of a spacious conference hall for seminars and open auction, plus auction sheds will be built.
The agri-mall will consist of loading and unloading pavilions for daily trading and separate gradation for fruits grading. Adopting international technology, a ripening chamber and huge cold storage are planned for imported vegetables and fruits.
To give the agri-mall a further boost, full-fledged shopping centres are planned for different sectors, and food courts. A garbage plant and a salvage disposal system are part of the construction plan to be built on 22,000 sq mt land.