Project for Construction of Horticulture Centers Interrupted by FPOs

Nursery Today Desk

New Delhi: Under the projects, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) and Rashtriye Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), government sanctioned the construction of nearly 151 horticulture collection centres and 44 solar cold storages in the Anantapur district. This initiative was taken to help the farmers to store their produce for which Rs 15 lakh was sanctioned for each centre.

Deadline of 5 years was given for the completion of this project. The FPOs, which the Horticulture Department established with 50 to 1,000 members, are expected to each contribute an equivalent amount to the construction, with the government reimbursing the costs as a subsidy.

This project though, is facing obstacles as the members of FPOs are denying to contribute the required funds for the project. The reason given by the FPO members is that the expenses demanded in the project are much higher. This action of the FPOs has delayed the execution of this project. Till date, only 28 collecting centers and 5 solar cold storage centers have been constructed.

However, the delay and obstacles in the implementation of the project has been acknowledged by the Horticulture officials of Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts Raghunath Reddy and Chandrasekhar.

They stated that the appropriate actions would be taken to speed up the construction. Several FPO groups have received the funds. Divisional authorities have been ordered to provide weekly reports on the status of the construction.