Starting January 25, you can buy fresh vegetables and fruits at reasonable rates at your doorstep.
Starting January 25, you can buy fresh vegetables and fruits at reasonable rates at your doorstep. The state agriculture marketing board has decided to do away with middlemen and to bypass wholesale markets in housing societies. This will enable farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers and ensure prices are not artificially jacked up.
Initially, farmers will sell their produce in government colonies. The agriculture department will engage the services of a private agency to buy, transport, sell and deliver the produce to societies. Apart from this, the board also plans to start dial-a-vegetable service in which consumers can call and place their order.
Farmers who cannot directly sell their produce can approach the agriculture market board. Alternatively, they can form groups and make arrangements for transporting and selling fruits and vegetables to the service providers in the city.
At present, it is mandatory for farmers to bring in their produce to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees in all towns, including Mumbai. The produce is then auctioned and bought by wholesalers who in turn sell it to retailers. Farmers bringing their produce directly to the city can be impounded.
“In all this, prices of vegetables were getting jacked up as handling and porterage charges as well as the percentage of the turnover had to be given to the board by wholesalers. However, now with farmers selling their produce directly, it will lead to a reduction of prices by at least 10-20 per cent,” said an official of the agricultural department.
“For example, a bunch of methi is sold for Rs5 by the farmer, but costs Rs25 by the time it reaches the consumer. Farmers will now get their money without bothering about intermediaries,” the official said.
Earlier, a similar pilot project was launched in Pune with the National Horticulture Mission taking the initiative. The scheme encouraged farmer groups to cultivate quality vegetables and supply them directly to customers, bypassing the wholesale market and middlemen.
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