Agriculture Minister P. Prasad said that an agreement was reached at the official level discussion held yesterday to bring various varieties of vegetables from Tenkashi district to the state through Horticorp to control the prices of vegetables as part of the market intervention of the Agriculture Department. The decision to procure vegetables from 6 farmers’ groups was taken during a meeting between top officials of Kerala and Tamil Nadu Tenkasi in Tenkasi.
Farmers’ groups collect vegetables from farmers and hand them over to Horticorp on the basis of the daily market price set by the Tamil Nadu Department of Agriculture. The special feature is that procuring directly from the farmers, it is possible to avoid middlemen and buy the produce at a fair price. It will also benefit the farmers of Tenkasi. Products collected from farmers will be handed over to Horticorp by the production teams after special grading and packing. Farmers in the group are cultivating onions, small onions, apples, winter vegetables, onions, amaranth, cucumbers, legumes and fruits, officials in Tenkashi said. He said a memorandum of understanding would be signed by both the departments on December 8.
Led by Horticorp MD J Sajeev, Additional Director of Agriculture Sivaramakrishnan and Pradeep, Horticorp Regional Manager, Deputy Director of Marketing, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Farmers Interest Group and CEOs of 6 farmer production groups from Tenkasi were present. The meeting was held at the office of the Joint Director of Agriculture in Tenkashi district.
English summary: Horticorp to procure vegetables
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