The Horticulture Department and the Department of Agri-marketing have prepared vegetable bags to be sold to residents in containment zones and remote villages surrounding Udhagamandalam.
The first 400 of these bags, each costs ₹ 150, were sold to residents on Thursday and Friday.
Joint Director of Horticulture, the Nilgiris district, Sivasubramaniam Samraj said the first 100 bags of vegetables were sold at cost-effective prices to people living in Khandal, one among the containment areas set up in Udhagamandalam, Coonoor and Kotagiri.
“Each bag will contain seven to eight essential vegetables like carrots, potatoes, onions and tomatoes, which we estimate will last an average family of four around five days,” said Mr. Samraj.
The initiative, undertaken on the instructions of Collector, J. Innocent Divya, is being spearheaded by the Tamil Nadu Horticultural Development Agency (TANHODA).
Sales counters
The residents can also buy the bag from the TANHODA sales counters in the coming days.
The vegetables are being procured from the farmers’ markets in the Nilgiris.
“The vegetable bags will not only be sold to people living in the containment zones in Udhagamandalam, but will also be taken to remote villages with little access to the major towns,” said Mr. Samraj.
In Coonoor, Farmer Producers Groups were being employed to sell vegetables and fruits in trucks in each locality, officials said.
