Shortage of funds hits Horticorp expansion plans

Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation Limited (Horticorp) Chairman Vinayan has said that paucity of funds has hit the expansion plans of the agency functioning under the Department of Agriculture in the State.

Addressing a news conference here on Thursday, Mr. Vinayan, also a film-maker, who was appointed to the post more than a year ago, said that the budgetary allocation of ₹30 crore to the agency last fiscal had still not been received by it. The non-payment had put the agency in severe financial crisis, affecting the expansion plans including the opening of new retail outlets and supermarkets in the State, he said, adding that a ₹44-crore project to widen its network was still pending with the government.

He said that Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar had taken steps to secure the funds so that the agency would increase the number of vegetable outlets from the existing 102 to 500. Plans were afoot to launch air-conditioned supermarkets in Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kochi and increase more stalls across the State.

Mass campaigns would be undertaken to educate the public about the pesticide-laced vegetables being bought from neighbouring States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Horticorp, which was not a commercial venture but a service-oriented agency, aimed at the twin objectives of encouraging farmers to produce more vegetables after offering them good prices and at the same time preventing jacking up of prices in the open market, Mr. Vinayan said.

He said the agency had plans to tie up with government departments and other agencies, including the Kerala State Women’s Development Corporation, to promote backyard vegetable garden and terrace farming among women. Horticorp would procure the vegetables and market them through retail outlets. The government should introduce a scheme such as offering grant to encourage vegetable cultivation in unused land, he said.