Some 16 farmers under a city based organisation, Rythu Mitra, came together to sell their organic produce under a first-of-its-kind initiative of Organic Farmers Market organised by Women in Society through Engagement (WISE), a newly formed women’s wing of the Vizagapatam Chambers of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) here on Sunday. The initiative saw an overwhelming response from visitors.
From vegetables and fruits to a variety of flavoured honey and products for home gardening assistance, the organic market came as a one-stop-solution for health conscious people who seek to eliminate the presence of pesticides from the food chain by going organic.
Rythu Mitra, which works closely with Subhash Palekar, the man behind Zero Budget Natural Farming, has formed a group involving 15,000 people that include farmers and gardeners in the regions as well as NRIs who exchange information on organic farming practices and provide support.
Main aim
Speaking to The Hindu on the initiative, Rambabu Karri, founder of Rythu Mitra said: “Our idea is to propagate the message of zero-budget-natural-farming and motivate the farmers to take up organic farming practices through different kinds of support. We currently have 16 farmers from Visakhapatnam and Vizianagaram under our group whom we are supporting through field visits and other assistance in crop management.”
Going forward, Rythu Mitra aims at providing an end-to-end support for the organic farmers by such similar organic farmers market. “There is a huge demand for organic vegetables and other products, but the farmers do not know how to tap into the market and reach out to the consumer base. We want to address this issue where it will be a win-win situation for farmers as well as the consumers,” Mr. Karri said.
No dedicated place
The farmers rue that most often they are forced to sell their produce at much lower rates due to presence of middlemen and a lack of dedicated market place for organic products.
“If we have a separate market like an organic rythu bazaar, it will be of great help to us. We are also struggling to get agricultural labour,” said V. Rajesh, a farmer from Kothavalasa. GVMC Commissioner M. Harinarayanan, who visited the organic farmers’ market said that an idea to develop a separate section within the rythu bazaars for organic vegetables was being mooted. District Collector Pravin Kumar said that initiatives like organic farmers market would also create more demand and help farmers get the much-needed support to reach out to consumers.