Ernakulam district will have nearly 20 permanent organic vegetable stalls by the beginning of the New Year under the organic farming initiative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Aims
The move comes close on the active efforts by the party to popularise the use of pesticide-free vegetables and to intervene effectively in the market to curb the rising prices of vegetables.
“We are already having five such outlets in various parts of Ernakulam. Fifteen additional permanent outlets will be ready by the beginning of 2016,” said P. Rajeev, district secretary of the party. Various local committees of the party and service cooperative banks will be part of the project. “With the party in power in 41 panchayats, five municipalities and five block panchayats in the district, we hope to expand the organic farming initiative in a big way,” said Mr. Rajeev.
A meeting of the elected representatives of these local bodies will be held on December 9 and 10 to chalk out the way forward.
Existing outlets
Among the existing five permanent outlets, one is located near the entrance of the Lulu mall at Edappally on the NH 17 route. Mr. Rajeev said that it’s open on four days (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) every week. “We will have more outlets in the city by the New Year,” he said.
The party has started work on the next round of pesticide-free vegetable farming ahead of the Vishu festival. It plans to scale up the output by involving more people in the coming days.
Green initiative
CPI(M)’s green initiative had witnessed the production of around 1,600 tonnes of vegetables during the Onam fest.
The vegetables were distributed to the public through nearly 164 stalls across various parts of the district.
