HYDERABAD: Pointing to the need to encourage farmers to grow fruits to meet the demand of the growing population, Minister for Agriculture, Horticulture and Marketing S Niranjan Reddy on Friday said that this was the reason the State government was in the process of building a new fruit market in 178 acres in Koheda village of Rangareddy district.He said that this was also the reason behind cold storage being established by Telangana Warehouse Development Corporation.
As part of his Delhi tour, Niranjan Reddy visited Azadpur Mandi, the largest fruit market in the country, which was constructed in 90 acres in 1975. The Azadpur Mandi fruit market presently generates revenue of `100 crore per annum. The Minister, along with Principal Secretary for Agriculture (APC) Raghunandan Rao and Director for Horticulture L Venkatram Reddy explored how vegetables, fruits and turmeric are traded at the market.
Interacting with market officials, traders and farmers there, Niranjan Reddy stated that the requirement and importance of fruits in the country have grown in recent times and would grow further in the years to come. He said that though the area of cultivation under agricultural crops was high, the importance and value of horticultural crops was higher.