The Uzhavar Sandhai at RS Puram, which gets nearly 5,000 customers a day on an average, is kept open in the evenings too for farmers to sell value-added products.
K. Sundaravadivelu, deputy director of Agri Marketing, told The Hindu the evening market was functioning since Wednesday on a pilot basis. On the first day, eight farmer producer organisations (FPOs) from the district put up stalls. The numbers were expected to go up gradually. “A lot of people go for a walk inside the Uzhavar Sandhai in the evenings. They can pick up their grocery requirements such as oil and millets from the evening market,” he said.
The evening market, which is open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily, will have FPOs in the district and those from other districts too selling value-added agri products such as millets, spices, rice and pulses, oil, and jaggery. The Uzhavar Sandhai at RS Puram has 120 stalls and all the stalls can be occupied by the FPOs. “I have requested officials in the nearby districts to have products made by the FPOs in their districts also to be sold here,” he said.
For instance, some FPOs in Erode make turmeric powder, and some in Virudhunagar have pulses and millets. In the future, the FPOs in Coimbatore district can sign agreements with other FPOs and sell their products too.
The evening market benefited customers and farmers as the customers got to buy value- added products directly from the farmers, he added. There was a request from some farmers to sell vegetables also in the evening. A decision regarding this would be taken by higher officials, he added.
