ALAPPUZHA: We have heard of IT Parks, genome parks and apparel parks. Now, it is the turn of a rice park in the State. And this will not be just another money-spinning innovation, but one with a human touch to help Alappuzha's Kuttanad regain its glory as the `rice bowl of Kerala.'

A brainchild of the district panchayat, one of the premier aims of the proposed park is to help paddy cultivators obtain a decent price for their produce.

Moreover, even if their produce is not sold off at one go, facilities to churn out value-added products from the leftovers will be available at the park.

The project will also help in branding and marketing the products. Rice hulls, rice bran, flakes, broken rice, rice cakes, flour and cooking oils and various categories of the existing packaged rice are expected to be branded as from the stables of Kuttanad before being marketed by the Park itself.

Godowns, storage and collection facilities, rice mills and other infrastructure that will help manufacture `all possible' by-products of rice will be part of the park, a district panchayat official said, remarking that the project would be a `blend of tradition and technology.'

The official said preparations to get a proper estimate, a project report and appointment of a consultant to study similar rice-based projects in other States, if any, were on.

Funds, in case the District Panchayat's coffers were not big enough, could be drawn from sources including NABARD, he said.

The entire project was expected to take around two years to come up.

The district panchayat, meanwhile, is drawing up proposals to set up a food processing park here as well. With several farmers and households in areas like Kanjikuzhy in the district now involved in the direct marketing of vegetables, this park was to look at ways of avoiding the excess produce going waste by turning them into value-added and profit-earning consumables.

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