VIJAYAWADA: SERP Minister Kondapalli Srinivas said that the government is planning to establish 19 moringa processing units across the State through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to increase farmers’ incomes, promote value addition and create employment opportunities for rural women.
The units are being planned under the SERP, with the successful processing facilities at Veeraballi in Kadapa and Yerravaripalem in Tirupati being taken as models.
The initiative seeks to enable farmers to take part in the value chain, from processing and packaging to branding and marketing, rather than limiting themselves to the sale of raw moringa leaves.
The units are being selected based on local climate, cultivation area, availability of raw material, farmers’ interest and the capacity of FPOs. The government will procure high-yielding quality seeds from the Horticultural College and Research Institute at Periyakulam in Tamil Nadu and supply them to farmers.
Study tours will be organised to familiarise farmers and FPO representatives with processing, quality control and marketing practices.
A Yerravaripalem processing plant with livelihood funds is producing 250 kg of moringa powder a day. The unit, set up with Rs 86.80 lakh, procures moringa leaves from 300 acres.
Srinivas said farmers spend Rs 10 to produce a kg of moringa leaves, while FPOs procure them at Rs 15 a kg, providing farmers a margin of Rs 5 per kg. Eligible farmers can receive development aid of up to Rs 1.30 lakh per acre under the employment guarantee scheme. Moringa cultivation could provide farmers a net monthly income of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, he said.
