RAYAGADA: The work on hot-water treatment plant to prevent fungus attack on king of fruits at Bhakurguda village, 6 km from the district headquarters town, is going on in full swing.
The project, with a capacity to handle 10 tonnes of mangoes per day, is being executed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) at an estimated cost of `2.8 crore. The treatment plant will prevent the common diseases affecting mangoes such as fruit fly attack, anthracnose and powdery mildew. It will also prevent the mangoes from decaying early.
Apart from treatment, sorting and grading will also be conducted in the mango hub. After commissioning of the plant, mango growers of the district will be benefited significantly.
Informing this, Deputy Director of Horticulture Anand Kumar Sahu said the plant will treat the mangoes at 46 degree C boiled water destroying the accumulated eggs of the insects laid on the top of the fruits. The project is nearing completion except for a few auxiliary works such as power supply and installation of water sources. For the electrification work, the department has already placed a budget of `10 lakh before the Southco, he added.
Sources said at present, 51,724 tonnes of mangoes are produced from 11,531 hectares (ha) of land in the district annually. The major mango varieties include Amrapalli, Dasheri and Mallika. Kashipur block produces about 32,000 tonnes of mangoes from 6,000 ha of land per year. In the district, the mangoes get ripe late and thus are vulnerable to diseases and become rotten.
Earlier, the plant was proposed to be set at Kashipur. But due to unavailability of land, the project was shifted to Rayagada block.