What a college here can possibly do for farmers in the faraway panchayats of Palakkad district during this lockdown?
Going by what the commerce department of the Al-Ameen College at Edathala has done for mango farmers in Muthalamada, Perumatty and Pattanchery panchayats along the border of Palakkad in association with the Palakkad District Agriculture Processing and Marketing Society, a lot seems possible.
The department played a ‘matchmaker’ by helping the farmers find market for nearly 2,000 kilograms of eight different varieties of mangoes in the last week alone. This was at the request of the Minister for Water Resources and Chittoor MLA K. Krishnankutty, an old acquaintance of the college principal, after the lockdown deprived farmers of market access.
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“Cooperative societies at Edappally, Muppathadam and Chengamanad and LuLu Hypermarket took the first consignment and another 2,000 kilograms are expected this Sunday. Orders are placed based on specific demand since these organically ripened mangoes free of pesticides can’t be stored for more than five days,” said M.B. Sasidharan, college principal.
The society, which predominantly deals in coconut and its derivatives, decided to procure mangoes from farmers in three panchayats, who during normal times did business worth ₹300 crore annually, considering the present crisis. In fact, Muthalamada is known as the mango city and is touted as the first place in Asia where mango trees bloom to fruit making mangoes available a couple of months before anywhere else.
Even before the lockdown, the mango output has been on the decline thanks to the climate change and the recent floods didn’t help things either.
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“A decline of around 40% in output is reported this season. We are mainly focusing on small farmers with limited output. The idea is to find market beyond the procurement by Horticorp,” said M.V. Murugadas, president of the society.
P.H. Sabu, secretary, Muppathadam Service Cooperative Bank, said that mangoes put up for sale in their own supermarket were sold quickly and that they are waiting for the next consignment.
“As the initial limited lot were found to be very popular, we have now ordered over 1,000 kilograms of various varieties of mangoes,” said Ummer Mustafa, fruits and vegetables buyer, LuLu Hypermarket.