Andhra Pradesh Government ready to sign MoUs for food processing plants

Vijayawada: Special chief secretary, agriculture, Poonam Malakondaiah, said the state government is ready to enter MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing units and to encourage the entrepreneurs.

Poonam Malakondaiah on Wednesday visited a popcorn processing unit near Nuzvid and interacted with the officials and local farmers about the promotion of food processing industry in Nuzvid. Speaking on the occasion, Malakondaiah said farmers can earn profits by cultivating crops like mango, banana, maize, tomatoes, coconut, chilli. She said the state government as part of the new industrial policy would give support and give encouragement to the entrepreneurs if they come forward to set up the food processing units. She said the entrepreneurs should help the farmers during the natural disasters and treat the farmers as their family members.

She said Rythu Bharosa Kendras (RBKs) will help the farmers by supplying quality seeds and providing support price for quality produce. She said 10,700 RBKs were set up in the state to help farmers. As many as 2,000 godowns will be constructed in the state for the storage of agriculture produce. Noting the need to develop the food processing units in the state, she said income of farmers will increase if the processed food is exported and added that the state government is making efforts in this regard. Joint director, officer of the commissioner of agriculture, Krupadas, Krishna district joint collector K Mohan Rao, officials of the agriculture, horticulture and other departments attended the event. She spoke to the local farmers and officials about the popcorn processing units.