New Chief Minister UP promises Potato Processing unit will come to Agra soon

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) congratulates Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (left)

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) congratulates Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (left)

May 03, 2017
According to reporting in the India Times, the state government of Uttar Pradesh (India) will soon begin the works of setting up a potato processing unit in the Agra district.

During a meeting with Etmadpur MLA Rampratap Chauhan on Wednesday, Yogi Adityanath, newly elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, has assured that steps to identify land for the processing unit would be taken soon. According to Rampratap, the processing unit would reduce the burden of transporting potatoes, storing it in cold storages for a long time and facilitates hassle-free payment on selling their produce.

Agra division, which includes Agra, Firozabad, Mathura and Mainpuri, is one of the major producers of superior quality potato.

Potato is cultivated on 72,000 hectares in the district. At present, there are 254 cold storage facilities in the district with a capacity of 24.5 lakh metric tonnes.

Unclear to PotatoPro is the type of potato processing that will take place in this facility. It could be just sorting, washing and packing of potatoes, but may also include the creation of more value added products such as potato flakes, potato chips and/or french fries.