Seventy-five collection and grading centres and twenty solar cold storage rooms across twenty mandals of Anantapur district will be established soon by the District Farmer Producer Organisation.
Joint Collector Kethan Garg inaugurated two solar cold storages in Muddulapuram on Tuesday, in the presence of District Horticulture Officer B. Raghunatha Reddy. The facilities, established by Kuderu Rythu Utpathidarula Paraspara Sahayaka Sahakara Sangham Limited and Rythu Nestham Food Producer Company, were created with subsidy from Rashtriya Kisan Vikas Yojana (RKYV) and Mission on Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) at a cost of ₹12.5 lakh each. While the FPOs pay 25% of the unit cost, the remaining 75% is given as a subsidy by MIDH and RKVY.
35 out of the 75 collection centres sanctioned last year have become operational and the construction of 28 more has been completed, said Mr. Raghunatha Reddy. Each collection centre costing ₹15 lakh has space to store horticulture produce, grading and washing facilities, along with final packing for export or transport to other states.
