Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the Horticulture Department to set up a food processing unit on the outskirts of the State capital with a view to supply un-adulterated basic spices such as chilli and turmeric powder, ginger-garlic paste and ‘masalas’ to people.
The decision was taken during a review meeting on the department held in the Chief Minister’s camp office here on Saturday. It was attended by Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Roads & Buildings Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, Principal Secretary (CMO) S. Narsing Rao, Secretary (Agriculture) C. Parthasarathi, Director (Horticulture) L. Venkatram Reddy and others.
Expressing concern over adulteration, including use of overdose of chemicals in fruits, vegetables and spices, the Chief Minister said that the situation was so bad that people were thinking twice before eating anything raw. To overcome such a scenario, he asked the Horticulture Department to set up a food processing unit on its own by appointing an Additional Director and necessary staff to oversee the venture.
He even suggested expansion of the Horticulture Department by adding marketing, mechanisation and food processing wings. The city with about one crore population was getting most of its supplies of vegetables, fruits and flowers from other States, including coriander leaves and curry leaves, when a large number of farm workers were migrating to other places in search of livelihood, he noted.
The Chief Minister wanted the department to encourage cultivation of vegetables, fruits and flowers on a large scale across the State by further increasing subsidy given on micro irrigation implements to farmers from SC and ST communities. He asked the department to divide the State into zones based on the types of soils and suggest the farmers what crops they could raise to get profit.
He asked the department to take up a comprehensive study and submit a report on the requirement of poly/green houses, vegetables, fruits and flowers, what was the production in the State and the quantum of import from other States by June so that an action plan could be prepared.
