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Karnataka horticulture department to set up mango development centre under RKVY scheme
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Wednesday, 24 February, 2010, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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MV Chandrashekar, Bangalore
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Karnataka horticulture department is setting up a Mango Development Centre (MDC) at an investment of Rs 19 crore.
The Centre is a first-of-its-kind in the country. It is being set up at Srinivasapur and Chintamani in Kolar district in the state, which are the two major mango growing regions. Srinivaspur's total cultivation is 30,000 hectares and in Chintamani's is 10,000 hectares.
The funding is under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) which is a centrally sponsored scheme. The objective is the improved production, marketing, export of mangoes from the state.
According to the state horticulture department official, the focus of the two centres would be on production and post-production activities. These included grading, storage, packaging and value additions, centre of technology, demonstrations, training, HRD, entrepreneurship development and trade promotion.
The scheme is likely to start its operations by June 2011, presently the buildings are under construction. It will be open for growers, exporters and others in the trade.
The objectives of MDC include demonstrating to the farmers, improved refined production technology, to produce quality mangoes. Efforts will be on to teach the farmer, scientific management practices for sustainable production. There will also be sessions to demonstrate the scientific handling of harvested mangoes. The importance of right packaging technology will also be highlighted.
Further, demonstration of the essential treatments such as hot water treatment ( HWT ), vapour heat treatment (VHT), irradiation etc. will be addressed. In addition, expertise will be provided to tackle the pest " maggots" in mangoes. Training will also be imparted to the farmers in value addition of mangoes, besides providing essential information about market for the export of mangoes.
Entrepreneurs will be provided information on export procedures, seeking compliance to phytosanitary certificate (PSC), residual and others.
There is a lack of knowledge in export of mangoes by farmers and entrepreneurs who have always thought of marketing the mangoes only in the domestic market. With the opening of this center, Karnataka will have a big boost in the export of mangoes.
According to Dr S V Hittalmani, additional director of fruits, Karnataka Horticulture Department, the centre would conduct survey of mango orchards, identifying potential exporters among growers, establishment of an export and market information centre, organising mango melas and international trade fairs and taking growers and exporters on exposure visits to leading mango markets across the country and abroad.
The state will be able to export 10,000 tonnes of mangoes annually and earn foreign exchange of around $ 20 million, it will also help create employment opportunities.
In the two districts put together the total area of mango cultivation is 47.000 hectares. Annually around 5 lakh tonnes of mangoes during the bumper crop and two lakh tonnes during the lean period are produced.
The state's well-known mango varieties in Kolar district are Baganpalli, Alphonso and Mallika. Both the districts account for 40 per cent of the state's total area under mango cultivation which is 1.4 lakh hectares and 35 percent of the gross production.
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