According to the Finance Minister, the district recently shipped over a lakh tonnes of bananas to Iran via Container Corporation of India train rakes
The State government will offer policy support to establish the district into a horticultural hub, according to Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav. Mr. Keshav announced the opening of the city’s first Anantha Horticulture Conclave on Wednesday. He said that the district recently exported over one lakh tonnes of bananas to Iran using Container Corporation of India train rakes, and that five other horticulture products would receive a similar marketing push. The Minister declared that the conference would become an annual event due to the positive response it received.
According to Mr. Keshav, offering complete solutions for horticultural produce from the nursery to the marketing stage was urgently needed. “As part of Swarnadhra 2047, this will guarantee that Anantapur district contributes 25 per cent to the State GVA (Gross Value Added),” Mr. Keshav stated. He claimed that encouraging businesses to make investments in cold chain, logistics, and farmer support systems will assist realize this goal.
In order to operate all 12 pumpsets and provide irrigation water to additional cultivable fields, Mr. Keshav stated that the TDP government will begin the process of enlarging the Handri-Neeva canal as soon as possible during the current agricultural season. The Minister declared, “The project will be finished within the next 12 months.”
Speaking at the event, Budithi Rajasekhar, Special Chief Secretary, Horticulture and Agriculture, stated that the government was committed to overcoming the several obstacles that stood in the way of realizing the ambition. Anantapur’s banana yield per hectare was 65 million tonnes (MTs), which was quite near to Turkey’s 70.2 MTs, the highest in the world. The immediate needs for the horticulture industry to meet its goals were to maintain the supply chain, enhance product quality and packaging, and provide value-addition, he stated. He stated that the post-harvest losses, which were between 15 and 20 per cent, were to be reduced to nine per cent.
Six of the eleven priority crops in the 24 clusters that the Central and State governments were promoting, according to Mr. Rajasekhar, were in Anantapur: banana, dry chilli, sweet orange, tomato, mango, and dragon fruit. “MoUs were signed with seven companies during the conclave for various aspects of improving productivity of identified horticulture crops with the goal of making Anantapur a global brand,” said District Collector Vinod Kumar V, who chaired the first session. Support will be given during the pre-harvest, production, and post-harvest phases, he said.
The event was attended by Kalava Srinivasulu, Paritala Sunitha, and other district elected officials. During the conference, MOUs were inked with seven businesses: Puro Natural, Siddhartha Cold Storage, Kousuri Bajaj Agro, Green Gurukulam, Agro Life Science Croporation, and Micro Algae Solutions.
