Mango processing unit to come up at Odisha’s Kashipur

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) in association with the district administration will set up a mango processing unit at Kashipur block in Rayagada.

The unit will prepare juice, squash, jam, pulp and candy from the locally produced mangoes, sources said.

“The state government has sanctioned a mango processing unit at Kashipur. We will form a trust and register it with the appropriate authorities to begin the project work at the earliest,” said an official of ORMAS.

The district administration has identified a building at Kashipur for setting up of the unit, he added.

According to sources, farmers of Kashipur grow several varieties of mangoes on around 3,000 hectares of land. The block produces around 10,000 tonne mangoes annually.

However, most of the farmers sell their mangoes at throwaway prices to middlemen. The middlemen pocket huge sums by selling the mangoes to big traders in and outside Odisha at high rates, sources said.

“The mango processing unit at Kashipur will ensure better returns to the farmers,” said the ORMAS official.