A Spices Park established under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in Yadlapadu mandal on Guntur-Chilakaluripet highway would be inaugurated on Monday.
Union Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Seetharaman, Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu would open the Spices Park with integrated facilities for cultivation, post harvesting, processing for value addition, packaging, storage and exports.
The foundation stone for the Spices Park was laid in 2008. Spices Board officials said the new facility would have facilities of drying of 10 metric tonnes of chillies daily. Scientists at the Spices Board have been conducting techno-feasibility studies on using micro-wave and radio frequency heating and drying techniques.
Chilli farmers could bring the produce to the park and after value addition through various post harvest technologies, could sell the produce directly to traders.
The drying facilities would benefit a lot of small and medium farmers, who could not afford expensive poly dryers for processing of chillies and turmeric.
The park would also have facilities for warehousing of raw material, cleaning, drying, grading, pulverising, blending and packaging facilities in tune with international quality and safety standards. A research station to be set up on the same premises would conduct research on high yielding and disease resistant varieties of Chilies and turmeric, quality up gradation and development of new species.
