Inauguration of Mega Food Park in Kerala

Inauguration of Mega Food Park in Kerala

  • A mega food park in Palakkad district of Kerala was virtually inaugurated recently.
  • It is Kerala՚s first and nation՚s twentieth mega food.
  • This project will give impetus to the development of food processing sector.
  • Mega Food Park will prove to be a milestone in the development of the food processing sector in Kerala.

Mega Food Park Model

Mega Food Park Model
  • It will leverage an additional investment of about ₹ 250 Crore in 25 - 30 food processing units in the park and would eventually lead to a turnover of about ₹ 450 - 500 Crore annually.
  • The Park will also provide direct and indirect employment to 5,000 persons and benefit about 25,000 farmers
  • India is constantly striving to become a flexible food economy and the world՚s food factory.
  • The government has made food processing a major-thrust area of​ “Atma Nirbhar Bharat.”
  • Twenty mega food parks in the country have been opened in collaboration with the Centre, seventeen other projects have also been approved, including a park in the Alleppey district of Kerala has been approved.
  • Due to the hard work of farmers, the country has sufficient stock of food grains, the needs of the countrymen are being fulfilled, food grains are surplus.
  • Agri Infra Fund of one lakh crore rupees has been announced, while Kisan Rail has been started as per the budget announcement.
  • There is more potential in the export of value-added goods, which will not only earn foreign exchange but will also create employment opportunities in the domestic market.
  • Government of India is working on rejuvenation of the agricultural sector.
  • Agreeing on the recommendations of the Finance Commission, the government has also increased the state funds.
  • Central sector scheme PM Kisan Sampada Yojana is benefiting farmers a lot.
  • Further, as part of the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” campaign, the Centre has launched a new scheme - PM Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME) .
  • This MFP will play an important role in helping and relief to the farmers of Kerala.
  • The conditions of farmers will improve with the involvement of agricultural entrepreneurs.
  • Expressing satisfaction over its establishment in the said time-frame, he said that this is one of the important schemes of Kerala, along with the Petro Park, Kochi-Bangalore Industrial Corridor, Defense Park, and other projects.
  • All these have become a better medium to project Kerala in front of investors.
  • Kerala entrepreneurs will take advantage of the assistance being received from the Centre and the food park is expected to give a big boost to the food processing industry.
  • The facilities created in the park will not only reduce wastage of agricultural produce but will also ensure value addition. With this,
  • The farmers will get better prices of their agriproducts and their income will also increase.
  • He added that this will provide processing opportunities to farmers, self-help groups, and micro-entrepreneurs and create more employment opportunities in the surrounding areas.
  • The KINFRA Mega Food Park has been set up in 79.42 acres of land at a project cost of ₹ 102.13 crore.
  • The facilities created by the Implementing Agency at Central Processing Centre (CPC) of this Mega Food Park include:
    • Multi-product Cold Storage-5000 MT,
    • Drywarehouse-12000 MT,
    • Pack House (Sorting Grading, Packing) 10 MT⟋Hr,
    • Ripening Chambers- 120 MT,
    • Condiment processing with mechanical drying facility-15 MT⟋day,
    • Food Testing Laboratory besides state of art enabling infrastructure.
  • The Park has a common administrative building for office and other uses by the entrepreneurs and 04 Primary Processing Centres (PPCs) at Ernakulam (Mazhavanur) , Thrissur (Koratty) , Malappuram (Kakkanchery) and Wayanad (Kalpetta) districts with Packhouse facilities for primary processing and storage near the farms in the catchment area to benefit farmers.
  • This Mega Food Park will benefit the people of Palakkad-District as well as nearby Districts of Malappuram & Thrissur of Kerala and nearby district of Coimbatore of Tamil Nadu.

Examrace Team at Aug 22, 2021