KOCHI: The Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council (VFPCK), an agency promoted by the state government, has set up a hi-tech vegetable seedling nursery at Nadukkara, Muvattupuzha, with the capacity to produce two-crore hybrid seedlings per year. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the nursery, established at a cost of Rs.11.35 crore on 4.09 acres, on December 16.
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar told reporters here on Monday that the nursery has four poly houses, fertigation unit, seed planting unit and an office complex.
The agriculture department was all set to launch a series of projects in various districts this month, he said. A new branded outlet named 'Thalir' to market pesticide and chemical-free vegetables will be opened at Kottarakkara on December 19 while a modern packing house for storing and packing agriculture produces for export will be opened in Wayanad on December 15. The facility has a cooling unit with a storage capacity of 10 metric tonnes, washing tanks, automatic conveyor unit and a quality assessment laboratory. The soil testing lab in Alappuzha is ready for commissioning while agriculture business centres will be set up at Kollam, Kozhikode and Thrissur soon, he said. The first agro- hyper bazaar will be inaugurated at Chembukkavu, Thrissur, on December 16, he added.
