A two-day pesticide-free fruit and vegetable market organised by the ‘Karshakajyothi’, a farmer club sponsored jointly by the NABARD and the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, in association with District Kudumbasree Mission here on Wednesday is drawing crowds.
“The market aims to promote pesticide-free vegetables and fruits being produced by the members of the club and supply it to the public at a nominal price by avoiding the intervention of middlemen. It also aims to sensitise the public on the significance of consuming pesticide-free agricultural produces,” says P. Ramakrishnan, training coordinator of the Karshakajyothi club.
The club had trained as many as 6,000 farmers in the district in precision farming, zero budget farming and many trained farmers were following organic cultivation practices, he said.
“We have got a good response from the public, even though we are selling the produces for a higher margin of nearly five per cent,” Sabu, an organic farmer from Mananthavadi says.
“I could sell vegetables worth Rs.10,000 on the first day itself,” Maimoona of Pulikkad, a farmer at Tharuvana, said. As many as 50 organic farmers from different parts of the district are selling their produces in the market. Kudumbasree units have also set up stalls at the market.
