Kerala Government, in a first of its kind initiative in the country, has announced a base price of 16 agricultural produce, including vegetables, fruits and tubers.

The scheme designed to protect farmers from adverse price fluctuation will come into effect on November 1.

The State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the base price would provide relief and support both traditional farmers and those newly farming the land. As many as 16 agricultural produce would be covered under the first phase. Crops such as tapioca, nendran banana, pineapple, bitter gourd, cucumber, snake gourd, tomato, cabbage and beans have been included in the base price, which would be 20 per cent above the production cost of the vegetables.

If the market price dipped below the base price, the produce would be procured at the base price and the money transferred to farmers’ accounts. The produce would be graded on quality and the base price fixed on that basis. There was also a provision to revise the base price regularly, the Chief Minister said.

Related Stories
Why the new agri laws are not anti-farmer
Vested interests in the APMC set-up have a lot to lose as a result of the recently passed ordinances, not farmers
 

The scheme would benefit a farmer with cultivation on a maximum of 15 acres in a season. They would have to register on the Agriculture Department’s registration portal after insuring the crop to get the benefit of the base price.

Initially, the registration would not be mandatory for farmers as the procurement is to happen through primary agricultural credit cooperative societies. The procured produce would be sold through the department’s markets or the societies marketing network.

The scheme also envisaged setting up of supply chain process such as cold storage facilities and refrigerated vehicles for transporting the produce to minimise wastage, he added.

comment COMMENT NOW