Procurement of farm produce by the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp) has picked up momentum in Ernakulam and Idukki districts.
The corporation procured around 16 tonnes of pineapple, eight tonnes of Nendran variety banana, 10 tonnes of ash gourd, three tonnes of snake gourd, and 12 tonnes of tapioca in Ernakulam.
In the neighbouring Idukki district, Horticorp has been engaged in procuring potato, cabbage, and carrot along with around 100 tonnes of tapioca. It has also been procuring pineapple and snake gourds from farmers in the district. Sources said three truckloads (around 10 tonnes) of vegetables were being moved to Alappuzha, Kottayam, Muvattupuzha, Thiruvananthapuram, and Kollam. The products were also procured from Palakkad district.
In Kottayam, procurement is on, but the availability of vegetables is poor, though there appears to be a glut in tapioca production. Around 400 kg of snake gourds have been procured from farmers in the district, sources said.
One of the key reasons for slowdown in procurement is that only around 25% of Horticorp outlets are operational owing to lockdown restrictions. Besides, public institutions like schools and college hostels to which Horticorp supplies products have been shut.
Sources said mostly tapioca and pineapple farmers were in great distress because of a glut-like situation. Besides, several farmers have been forced to do harvesting in the wake of fields getting flooded in heavy rains triggered by cyclone Tauktae last week.
Farmers usually stagger harvests in keeping with the market demand. However, rains and lockdown have forced them to go in for harvesting bulk of crops despite the market prices ruling low.
