VIJAYAWADA: Abhilaksh Likhi, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, visited the Banana Cluster at Karnapudiki village in Anantapur district on Friday and interacted with farmers.
He said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has identified 53 horticulture crop clusters in the country for the development of specific crops under the Cluster Development Programme in a comprehensive manner.
The main objective of the programme is to leverage the geographic specialisation of horticulture clusters for promoting integrated and market-led development of pre-production, production, post-harvest, logistics, branding and marketing activities, besides laying emphasis on holistic growth and development of horticulture clusters for making them globally competitive.
Initially, the programme has been rolled out on a pilot basis in 12 clusters in 11 States in the country. In Andhra Pradesh, Anantapur, Kadapa and Kurnool districts have been selected for the launch of Banana Crop clusters on a pilot basis. The project is expected to export more than 75,000 metric tonnes of bananas a year from Anantapur Cluster.
Dr SS Sreedhar, Commissioner of Horticulture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, said banana is identified as one of the growth engine crops and due to the proactive steps taken by the Department of Horticulture, the banana crop acreage has increased in the State.