Expressing great satisfaction and happiness over the opening of the much-awaited Patanjali’s Mega Food and Herbal Park in MIHAN, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday said the new facility will be a boon not only for the orange growers but also for all the farmers of the region. Addressing the inaugural function of the state-of-the-art plant, Fadnavis said that the plant had facilities to process all types of fruit from farmers. “Patanjali’s Mega Food and Herbal Park is designed to carry out sorting, grading and storage of the fruits and thus a large number of farmers of the region will be benefited through this plant,” he said.

 

The park, spread over 225 acres land at MIHAN on the outskirts of the city, was inaugurated in presence of Yog Guru Ramdev, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari; Maharashtra Minister of State for Finance Adv Ashish Jaiswal; Acharya Balkrishna, Managing Director of Patanjali Ayurved Ltd; Ram Bharat, Director,Patanjali; N P Singh, Chairman, Bhartiya Shiksha Mandal; and others. Fadnavis further highlighted the importance of processing fruits, without which there is wastage of fruits and farmers incur losses. “But with the opening of this mega plant here, farmers can now sell their agricultural produce. Ramdev Baba has assured us to buy fruits of every quality,” he said. In an attempt to improve yield of oranges in the region, Fadnavis said that his Government would provide all possible support to Patanjali’s Mega Food and Herbal Park for setting up a modern nursery. In his address, Gadkari said the plant, located in the region that had witnessed more than 10,000 farmers’ suicides, will give respite to the farmers.

 

“The plant has a capacity to process more than 800 tonnes of fruits per day. It will drastically boost the demand and farmers will certainly get its benefits. Patanjali’s plant has already started orange procurement at a price of more than Rs 18 per kg,” he said. In addition to this, Gadkari said he is creating awareness among the farmers on increasing the yield of oranges. “Recently, I have been to Spain where I have studied some of the techniques which can prove beneficial to Vidarbha’s orange growers,” he said. Gadkari also spoke about Agrovision Foundation’s activities aimed at helping farmers. Yog Guru Ramdev Baba said the plant was set up with an objective of developing a good platform for the farmers. “The plant is equipped with all modern machines capable of extracting juices, processing and packaging. We are sure the plant will bring revolution in the region. The farmers will get good value for their agricultural produce,” he added. At the outset, Acharya Balkrishna also highlighted various facilities available in the plant.