Khammam: Efforts are on to make full use of the increase in farm production in Khammam district by setting up food processing units here. The district is a hub for paddy, chilli and cotton production apart from having palm oil groves.
The civil supplies, marketing and agricultural officials are having difficulty to find a space for the paddy, chilli and cotton storage in kharif and rabi. There are many rice and parboiled rice mills in the district.
The government used to lift 5.5 lakh quintals of paddy every year apart from another two lakh quintals by private agencies. This is 1.5 lakh quintals more compared to the yield four years back.
About 60 mega rice mills and 20 para-boil rice mills are required to address the demand, apart from the existing one. There exist 125 rice mills and eight para-boil rice mills in Khammam and Bhadradri districts.
The capacity of these mills is below 80 tonnes. The husk coming from the mills can be used in bio-mass power units. Such a unit can be set up near to the food processing unit.
The farmers used to produce 6.2 lakh quintals of chilli every year and there is no unit in the district basing itself on chill. There is massive demand for chilli powder and oil in the country and abroad. The Khammam brand products can sell in national and international markets if agro-based units are set up.
Likewise, there is heavy demand for palm oil. Farmers are raising the crop on 60,000 acres in the two districts and the production target is 1.5 lakh acre by 2024. There are two palm oil units in Bhadradri district and another unit is proposed for Khammam district.
Keeping all these advantages in view, the government is searching for land in Khammam district to an extent of 250 acres.
Additional collector Madhusudan said officials inspected various lands in Raghunathapalem mandal for the agro-processing units. Khammam district rice-millers association president Bomma Rajeswara Rao said the setting up an agro-based hub in Khammam is a good proposal.
“The government should consider making use of the full capacity of farm produce. It should keep in mind the setting up of godowns within the unit. Not only chilli powder, chilli oil can also be produced in the agro-hub.”
