The Palliakkal Service Cooperative Bank, which has made its mark in local vegetable production in the State, has reaped a rich harvest with the pre-Onam sales.
Bank sources said 10 days of pre-Onam sales saw a total turnover of around ₹10 lakh, with the last three days before Onam seeing sales volumes going up considerably compared to other days.
However, bank sources said the season was marked by a slight fall in production largely due to climatic conditions. It has also been reported that some crops intended for the Onam market took more time to mature. Cowpea in some areas were yet to be harvested though they were meant for Onam sales, the sources added.
The major sales outlets opened by Palliakkal Cooperative Bank were at Rajendra Maidan. The sources said that around 40 acres had been brought under vegetable cultivation before Onam and around 100 farmers in Kottuvally and Ezhikkara panchayats were involved in vegetable cultivation. Bank president M.O. Vijayan had said that around 2,500 self-help groups of farmers had been formed through the intervention of the bank in the area.
The sources said that the bank, which encouraged and provided facilities for vegetable cultivation, received only ₹5 per kg of vegetables sold. The rest of the price at which the vegetables were sold went to the farmers. The rise in the price of some vegetables ahead of Onam helped the farmers earn good remuneration this season.
The increase in local production of vegetables also helped keep the prices in check during the Onam season, said sources, though they pointed out that a shortage in production due to climatic conditions had seen prices of some of the vegetables going up considerably two days before Onam. The price of cowpea went up to ₹130 a kg while that of the nendran banana and bitter gourd went up to ₹75 a kg in the retail market.
Meanwhile, the Cooperative Bank is preparing to engage in large-scale rice cultivation in pokkali fields within the bank’s operating area. The sources said that around 200 acres under pokkali rice was near ready for harvest by the month of October.
