LDF government to set up agro parks

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumar has said that four agro parks will be set up to encourage value-added products. The LDF government was committed to  improving the economy and protecting the interests of the farmers, he said while presiding over VAIGA-2016, (Value Addition for Income Generation in Agriculture), a five-day  international seminar and exhibition  on agro-processing and value addition  at Kanakakunnu Palace on Thursday.

Mr Sunil Kumar said though Kerala produces the maximum number of coconuts,  it did not produce value-added products. Governor Sathasivam who inaugurated the exhibition said that  value-added products would bring rich dividends to the farmers and help  sustainable development. “Since I come from an agrarian background, I can understand the status of a farmer. When the prices of agricultural products increase, agitations take place.  But when they go  down,  the farmers are at the receiving end,”  he said.

He added that Kerala had evolved from a producer’s state to a consumer state which should be changed with the help of the agriculture department’s initiatives.
There is a wide array of value-added products from coconut, honey, mushroom, jackfruit and other fruits at nearly 160 stalls set up at the Sooryakanthi grounds at Kanakakunnu Palace.  Value-added jackfruit items sell  like hot cakes, including jackfruit sadya and  similar other ones.