3 food processing units to come up in Anantapur

Anantapur: MP Talari Rangaiah revealed that all steps are being taken by the government for setting up three food processing units in the district.

Addressing a food advisory meeting at the DWAMA Conference Hall on Monday, Rangaiah said that tomato farmers in the district were on the losing side and unable to get remunerative price for their produce.

Besides, groundnut and sweet limes were also grown extensively in the district. To handle the fluctuation of prices, efforts are being made with the help of DRDO Food Research Laboratories for setting up food processing units to ensure value addition to the produce.

He revealed that he held discussions with the DRDO chairman in this regard, which resulted in the visit of DRDO scientists to the district.

The MP said that a tomato incubation centre will be set up in two months and subsequently separate incubation centres for groundnut and sweet lemons will also become a reality soon.

Initially, the tomato incubation centre will produce tomato ketchup, powder, sauce and other biproducts. Squash and juice will be produced with sweet lemons and salted roasted peanuts and peanut butter with groundnuts which are in great demand in Western countries.

Joint Collector Gangadhar Goud and DRDO Food Scientists D P Chouhan, Anand and Rudra Goud also spoke.