Large area of the storage facilities available on the 12 acre regulated market complex in Tirupur city, which was once flooded with cotton and other produces, are remaining either under utilised or unused during the recent years.
Even after leasing out a portion of the campus for the collectorate to function on a makeshift arrangement since 2009, the market complex operated by the Department of Agri Business and Marketing still have a usable capacity of 4,140 tonnes.
According to official sources, only a maximum of 2,500 tonnes of agriculture produces are stored at any given point of time around the year though the complex had various inherent advantages which include extremely negligible storage charges for farmers and traders till the produces gain prices in the market.
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The turmeric auction centre, opened at the complex in 2012-13 financial year, too was stopped due to low patronage.
The farmers, who should have been the main beneficiary of the facility, have many reasons to tell for not utilising the trading and storage facilities available at the complex.
“In the 70s and 80s, the market complex here has been used for storing huge volumes of cotton which gave the popular name of ‘cotton market’ to the facility. With the transportation costs soaring higher, many of the farmers prefer to sell the produces at the fields itself rather than bring it to the regulated market for trade.
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“Authorities should also try to create cold storage facilities in the complex,” pointed out K. C. M. Balasubramanian, a farmer and a retired agriculture economist.
M. Vetrivel, Superintendent at the regulated market, told The Hindu that the department has been organising interfaces with farmers and traders so as to encourage them more to use the facilities in the complex.