Though four years have passed since the inauguration of the integrated vegetable and banana pack house, a multicore project of the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) meant to facilitate exports at Kammana in Wayanad, it is still in a morbid state.
When the unit was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar in November 2017, the farming community expected that the project would ensure them a sustainable income by avoiding middlemen.
The project has been set up on 50 cents of leased land at Kammana, near Mananthavady.
It was envisaged to make the unit a hub of export-quality farm produce such as bananas, vegetables, and tubers. The produce was to be collected through self-help groups (SHGs) under the VFPCK, graded and packaged at the unit as per the guidelines of the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). The project was set up at a cost of ₹2.18 crore, of which 80% was funded by the APEDA.
Four vehicles, including three small goods carriers and a customised truck with freezer, were also purchased. All vehicles, except a pickup, were sent to Kottayam recently and now the authorities have left the unit to rust, E.P. Phlipkutty, president, Wayanad Karshaka Koottayma, a collective of farmers in the district, said.
An exporting company based in Kannur had tried to operate it in 2017, but it was stopped after four months , he said. In the past three years, the unit has remained fully closed owing to flood and related issues. Though a Kottayam-based exporter started to operate it for processing jackfruit recently, it was also stopped abruptly, he said.
However, VFPCK authorities said that they had got an exporting licence from the APEDA two months ago and it was planned to export vegetables and fruits, including jack fruit and banana, after processing them in the pack house from the next financial year.
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September 26, 2020 at 01:24AM
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Integrated vegetable pack house still in limbo - The Hindu
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