By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Industries Minister EP Jayarajan will open the district’s first agri-business incubation centre on Wednesday at Mundela in Aruvikkara near here. The centre aims to train farmers in producing value added agricultural products. The project which was started in 2018 has so far trained 100 people in two stages to make value-added products from local produce such as jack fruit, banana, pineapple, coconut and various types of vegetables. “Entrepreneurship assistance was also provided to the candidates who completed the training after we selected 16 of them to work in the Agri Incubation centre in Mundela where we make value added products. We have also introduced them to banks to provide them financial assistance,” said Biju B, president, Nedumangad Block Panchayat. The block panchayat hopes to encourage micro cluster of agri based entrepreneurs. The civic body also aims to establish a mutually beneficial ecosystem of farmers and agri-entrepreneurs, wherein the farmers would supply the raw materials to the entrepreneurs. The project cost around `18.5 lakh for the machinery and another `6.9 lakh for the training and affiliated projects executed. The products made in the Agri Incubation Centre would be sold under the block panchayat’s ‘Samridhi’ project. The civic body has plans to augment the agri business incubation centre in the near future.

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