Tamil Nadu's farm-to-table initiative has come to fruition rather unexpectedly, owing to the outbreak of Covid-19. The state has launched an initiative to ensure people get access to fresh produce without overcrowding the markets, where there is a chance of
transmission of the infection. First, the state government announced the introduction of mobile carts in neighbourhoods across the state.
In line with this, the
Tamil Nadu Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops expanded services under its E-Thottam (efarm) portal to cover supply of fruits and vegetables in the capital city of Chennai. “The E-Thottam initiative has existed for a while,” said Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Tamil Nadu agriculture production commissioner. “Earlier it was used for (supplying) things like saplings and green seed crackers for festivals like Diwali. When Covid-19 hit, we thought we will provide fruits and vegetables to households.”
Soon after the nationwide
lockdown was announced in March, the department began door-to-door deliveries of essentials as an emergency response. Currently, it handles about 2,000 orders a day and the goal is to scale up gradually. Orders are usually delivered within two days, but owing to the total lockdown in Chennai imposed last week, there is a longer backlog and it is taking at least one more day to service.
The operation is being overseen by 200 people from the department headquarters in Chennai, and another 500 across the state. Packing is being done at five centres in Chennai by horticulture officials themselves. Delivery is carried out by hiring autorickshaws or through delivery partners like
Zomato and Swiggy. Apart from vegetables, fruits like mangoes, guava, watermelon, muskmelon and jackfruit sourced from farmers in Krishnagiri,
Salem, Kanyakumari, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Villupuram districts are being offered through the E-Thottam portal.