The alumni association of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru (UAS-B) has stepped in to help grape growers who are in distress because of lack of access to bulk buyers.
Grape farmers have left their produce unharvested in the grape cultivation belt of Chickballapur and Devanahalli as it is impossible to ferry and sell tonnes of produce at a time of lockdown. In fact, many growers have started dumping their produce in anguish.
Hence, the association, which comprises thousands of farm scientists, has started making arrangements for farmers to bring their produce to Bengaluru, creating a direct marketing facility through its contacts. “To begin with, we brought 1.5 tonnes of premium seedless variety of Sharad seedless grapes from a farmer in Devanahalli and allowed him to sell them to consumers in Sahakara Nagar in Bengaluru on Tuesday,” alumni association chairman K. Narayana Gowda told The Hindu. The association roped in the Sahakara Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association to partner with it on the initiative.
“Before the commencement of sales, we created awareness among local consumers through our association members with the help of social media and WhatsApp groups. In less than three hours, the entire produce was sold,” he said. The consumers, too, were happy as they got export-quality produce at just ₹55 a kg, as against ₹120 in supermarkets.
Following the good response, the association has decided to facilitate the sale of farm produce at multiple locations in Bengaluru, including Tatanagar, Shivarama Karanth Layout, Coffee Board Layout and Pampapura, on Wednesday. The quantum of sales, too, is bound to increase.
Within the next few days, the association wants to rope in more farmers and increase sales by several tonnes. Interested consumers can contact the manager of the alumni association on 97316 51925.