Chandigarh, July 18:
Punjab horticulture and food processing minister Fauja Singh Sarari has emphasized fruit growing farmers to set up food processing units in order to boost their incomes and employment opportunities for people at the local level.
He said the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is putting sincere efforts for the promotion of horticulture and to make the farming business profitable.
The minister said that the Chief Minister has been encouraging farmers to opt for diversification from traditional crop cycle and to achieve this purpose, special attention is being given to horticulture by the government.
Holding a meeting with the representatives of Pathankot Lychee Growers Welfare Association at Punjab Bhawan, the minister Fauja Singh Sarari stressed that if the farmers cultivating fruits like kinnow, Lychee, mango, amla and guava, prepare and sell juices, murabba and other edible products from these fruits, it will produce them gigantic profit.
He also issued directions to officials of the horticulture department to explore possibilities to set up the food processing unit with the help of the government.
He said horticulture farmers should resort to food processing to reduce the wastage of fruits as fallen fruit from trees can be processed and sold at a higher price. Likewise, he also motivated the gardeners to install solar pumps in the gardens and said the best alternative to power shortage is solar system.
Sarari asked the officials to prepare a roadmap for training the fruit producing farmers and informing them about government schemes so that the farmers can adopt new techniques. The gardeners also submitted some demands and minister assured to fulfill alll the genuine demands on the occasion.
Meanwhile, the meeting ended on a postive note and buoyed growers said that this is the first time that a minister has called them for a meeting and addressed alll their grievances meticulously and also sought suggestions to promote horticulture.
Horticulture department director Shailendra Kaur and other officials were present on the occasion.
