Food processing unit for Amb, stone laid

Una, January 16

Chintpurni MLA Sudarshan Singh Babloo today laid the foundation stone of a World Bank (WB)-funded fruit processing centre at Behar Bithal village of Amb subdivision. A sum of Rs 1.65 crore will be spent on the centre under the HP Horticulture Development Project.

The MLA said the centre would process dragon fruit, ashwagandha, aloe vera, fig and stevia. A private entrepreneur from the village, Riva Sood, had mooted the project and the products would be branded under Agriva Naturally, added Sudarshan.

DC Raghav Sharma said 5,000 saplings of dragon fruit had been planted in the district during the last two years under MGNREGA scheme. He said the fruit processing unit would provide a ready market to the horticultural produce of farmers.

He said with new technical interventions and high-yielding varieties of vegetables and fruits, the youth, too, could take up agriculture and horticulture as a profession.

Riva said her organisation was building a nursery for various types of fruits and medicinal plants. She added they were also motivating local farmers to cultivate these plants so as to increase their income.