Finding takers for locally grown vegetables

It was a gathering of some like-minded vegetable growers in a remote village.

Driving down to that place was a challenging task for many due to the uneven mud roads on a hilly terrain in a remote place of Dakshina Kannada district (almost 60 km from Mangalore).

However, these factors did not deter the farmers in meeting and discussing vegetable crops. No, the gathering was not to discuss the usual varieties available in the market.

More than 25 farmers surrounding the house of the host, M. Shankaranarayana Bhat, near Punacha village, had brought more than 100 varieties of locally available vegetables to the event. In fact, the host has been growing different vegetables for the past several years.

The meeting stressed the need to focus on market creation for the locally available vegetables in villages.

A.P. Chandrashekar, a farmer from Mysore, said: “If you begin consuming the vegetables available locally, that is the first step of creating market for your produce. Lesser known or little known vegetables would be popular in a few years, if you start using them.”

Narrating an incident that took place in a function at his home recently, A.P. Sadashiva from Puttur taluk said he used the locally available colacasia plant for a dish. Sadashiva said he was happy to overhear a snide remark which literally meant “Was there a famine in the local shandy?” from a person who attended the function. The first objective was achieved for him.

It is not that the market is created only at farmers’ level for self consumption.

D.C. Chowta, a farmer from Meeyapadavu village in Kerala, said that earlier plantain stems were hardly used as a vegetable in his village. Now when he harvests banana in his farm, plantain stems are in good demand in his village market, which has a few hundred houses. He gets enquiries even from the neighbouring villages too.

Skyrocketing vegetable price is a reason for this trend. In fact, the local variety of okra (ladies finger) commanded a price of Rs 120 a kg in the Mangalore market recently during a festival.

Lancy Crasta from Takode near Moodbidri town said that direct marketing at the doorsteps of customers fetches farmers a good price. Crasta - who grows vegetables such as ivy gourd, ridge gourd, spinach, amaranthus and cowpea on 0.20 acre of land - has captive domestic customers in Moodbidri town.

He takes vegetables in his three-wheeler to the doorsteps of more than 50 customers once in two days, and clears the stock in a few hours.

C.R. Shivakumar from Madikeri in Kodagu district said that he and three other partners are growing fruits and vegetables in Madikeri and Periyaptna. Usually, they take their produce in their vehicle on Saturdays. The stocks get cleared by the time they travel the 50-km distance from Madikeri to Periyapatna.

Not only preaching. The event host made it a point to serve dishes from the locally available vegetables for the lunch. Of them, many were not considered as dishes for social functions.

>vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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