By Our Special Correspondent
Agriculture and Food Processing Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy on Wednesday inaugurated the secondary processing unit of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and Walmart Foundation to provide new livelihood opportunities and market facilities to local farmers in Muddalapuram village of Anantapur district.
Kakani said Icrisat is working with its project implementing partner Accion Fraterna Ecology Center (AFEC) to accelerate the benefits of Farmer Production Organizations (FPOs) and smallholder member-farmers through interventions at different levels in the agricultural value chain.
He said these efforts are in line with ICRISAT's objective of making dry land farming a profitable business through improved cropping techniques, post-harvest management and new food processing opportunities for smallholder farmers.
About 6,000 smallholder farmers are expected to benefit from the SPU, which is run by Rythu Nestham Food Producer Company Limited, established with support from Icrisat and AFEC.
The new facility is equipped with five processing lines that produce nutritious millet and pulse-based ready-to-cook formulations. The minister said that the state government has introduced several programs such as community-managed sustainable farming to make agriculture more profitable and profitable.
Approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the SPU will create employment, curb food wastage and enhance food and nutrition security for smallholder farmers, said Jacqueline D'Aros Hughes, Director General of ECRISAT.
"This will enable farmers from remote geographical areas to access affordable commodity value chains and improve livelihoods," he said.
Anantapur Collector S Nagalakshmi said that the marginal farmers will get better livelihood and good opportunities through this unit. She said that they will bring coordination between agriculture and food processing industries in the district.
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