By: P. Ram Mohan
The sanction of a Spices Park by the Centre with the constant persuasion of Member of Parliament Kalvakuntla Kavitha is one of the major achievements of the TRS government in the district. The park is all set to come up in 40 acres at Padagal village in Velpur mandal.
The Telangana government has already released an amount of Rs.5 crore towards compensation to farmers who lost their land for the establishment of the park, which will cost around Rs.100 crore.
This initiative has brought hope to farmers on a remunerative price for turmeric as in the last few years, they were unable to get a remunerative price.
“Turmeric is grown in large tracts [40,000 hectares] in Balkonda and Armoor Assembly constituencies and more than 80 per cent of the crop comes from these areas. It is believed that the Spices Park will improve marketing facilities for turmeric fingers and eliminate the intervention of middlemen in fixing prices,” said Velmal Vimala, ZPTC member Velpur.
The previous Congress government sanctioned the Turmeric Special Project that includes supply of necessary equipment for improving the quality of the product and supply of superior quality seed. Two training centres – one at Velpur and another at Dharpally were set up under the project and an amount of almost Rs.4 crore was spent on this mission. The project, proposed to be completed with an outlay of Rs.20 crore, however, came to a grinding halt for reasons not known. Paucity of funds and the lack of political initiative are said to have come in the way.
Minister for Agriculture Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said that problems of turmeric processing and marketing would disappear as soon as the Spices Park became operational. “To begin with, our government on its part, immediately released Rs.5 crore. The Centre will come forward with the required funding,” he said.
Source: The Hindu