A team of officials from Kerala on Thursday held talks with vegetable farmers of the district on direct procurement of their produce.
The objective was to ensure supply of vegetables to consumers in Kerala at the right price by weeding out middlemen. After the prices of vegetables shot up in the neighbouring State, the government decided to procure vegetables directly from cultivators of Tenkasi district.
At the first tripartite meeting among officials from both sides and vegetable farmers held here, Additional Director of Department of Agriculture (Government of Kerala) Sivaramakrishnan said their government would procure the vegetables directly from Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) to sell them to consumers of their State at the right price.
After getting orders from the Horticulture Department of Kerala the previous day, the FPOs should keep the consignment ready and hand it over to its officials. The suppliers would apparently get their amount paid in their account within the next 12 hours.
“This will be a win-win arrangement for the consumers and the growers,” said Mr. Sivaramakrishnan.
Deputy Director of Horticulture Jayabharathi Malathi led the talks.
