Gangtok: Farmers in Sikkim will now be able to sell their
produce directly to the customers from shopping complexes being set up
in different towns in order to give a boost to the government's organic
mission.
The first such complex, "Kisan Bazar", will be inaugurated in Gangtok on Sunday.
Since April 1, the government had imposed a ban on the sale of
non-organic vegetables, barring a few items, which are procured from
outside the state.
The restriction on the sale of non-organic vegetables is the
second phase of the government's organic mission. In the first phase,
the state became cent per cent organic producer.
D. K. Bhandari, the director of the horticulture department,
said to begin with, two floors of the multi-storied complex would be
given to the farmers to sell their produce. "Later, 85 stalls in the
complex will be let out to the farmers. The complex will also house two
cold storages and a canteen," he added.
Similar complexes will also be constructed at Namchi in South Sikkim,
Geyzing in West Sikkim and Mangan in North Sikkim. "The Kisan Bazar
will be open on all seven days of the week. The farmers can sell their
vegetables from these complexes at their own prices," said Bhandari.
The horticulture director, however, said once a stall was
allotted to a local farmer, he or she would not be allowed to sub-let
the places to others. "If anyone is found sub-letting the stall, the
allotment will be cancelled. This is being done to ensure that no
middlemen get to usurp the stalls," he said.
The government has also provided utility vehicles at different
locations to enable farmers to ferry their produce to the nearby
markets. "We have provided 24 utility vehicles and three refrigerated
vans to ferry vegetables. SIMFED (Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and
Marketing Federation Ltd.) also has six vehicles (to ferry vegetables),"
said Bhandari.
Pawan Awasthy, the managing director of the government-owned
SIMFED, said given the fact that organic vegetables were costlier than
the non-organic ones, his cooperative would try to sell vegetables at
subsidised rates to customers. "For instance, if we buy tomatoes from
farmers at Rs 28 per kg, we will sell them at Rs 20. We will absorb the
losses. Even though we are committed to giving subsidy as much as
possible, it will not be to the extent of non-organic (rates)," he said.
Non-organic tomatoes procured from outside are being sold at
Rs 15 per kilogram. Tomatoes are among the items exempted from the
purview of the ban. Other vegetables include potato, garlic, radish and
green chilli.
The horticulture director said the government would also
provide minimum support prices to farmers and offer them compensation
for vegetables that they are unable to sell in order to encourage them
to grow more vegetables. "In the second phase of the organic mission, we
want to increase production. We are willing to provide farmers every
help to increase their productions," he added.
The Telegraph