When the price of Hosur beans touched ₹80 a kilogram in the market recently, its price at the Haritha eco-shop at Mattukatta in Ayyappancoil village was ₹60.
The market price of tapioca was ₹30 a kilogram and the shop sold the produce at ₹23.
Same was the case in the three shops at Mattukatta, Upputhara, and Nirmalacity in the Kattappana block.
Under Krishi Bhavans
The eco-shops, monitored by Krishi Bhavans, could arrest the spiralling prices of vegetables and tubers by intervening in the market.
The shops sell vegetables at nearly 20% less than the market price.
“We buy produce from the Swasraya Karshaka Vipani, a farmers’ market, at 30% higher price and sell them at a lower price,” says M.G. Biju, president of the Federated Samiti which runs the Mattukatta eco-shop. Thus, the farmers and consumers are assured of a fair price.
“When we sell quality tapioca at ₹23, how long will the other merchants charge higher,” Mr. Biju asks.
The shops do not garner massive profits, just enough to keep them going.
Sixteen clusters of farmers under the seven villages in Kattappana block sell vegetables for local supply through the eco-shops of the samiti, he added.
Krishi Bhavans train farmers to use organic fertilizers and pest control measures.
The main produce are beans (Hosur and local varieties), cabbage, green chilli, bitter gourd, brinjal, cucumber, tomato, pumpkin, okra, tapioca, banana and yam.
Value-added items
“Crops not locally produced, for example onion, are brought from Kanthallur or markets in Tamil Nadu. We will soon produce potato and beetroot for local supply,” said Mr. Biju, himself a farmer.
The shops also sell value-added items produced at the Vandanmedu cluster unit including dried jackfruit, dried onion, and banana powder.
Middlemen out
Krishi Bhavan assistant director A.T. Thomas said the aim of the eco-shops was to avoid middlemen.
He said local shop owners often created problems as they could not charge prices on their own. “We will overcome all hurdles,” the official said.
