KOCHI: Fed up with the pesticide-ridden vegetables being sold at your local market? Here’s something organic you would definitely love to introduce in your platter. In a novel initiative, around 30 farmers and housewives in and around the district have come together to organise an ‘Organic Market’ every Sunday at Kakkanad LP School, with the sole aim to ensure farm fresh vegetables reach citizens.
Hari Ram M V, an Ottappalam native and a project manager with a Software company, is the brain behind the initiative. “I came across a similar initiative in Thrissur many months ago. A group of farmers would come together and hold an organic sale every Sunday. It is a huge hit in the district and there were also farmers from Ernakulam, especially Angamaly who would travel to Thrissur to sell their produce. Agriculture is a passion for me too which is why I thought I should introduce a similar initiative in Kochi,” he said.
For this, Hari Ram got in touch with farmers via Facebook. When people started responding, he set up a Koottayma (get-together) on Whatsapp. “This was the best way to bring all of them under one platform. These farmers are happy to be part of the initiative since it provides them better earnings than what they receive from the market. They are not paid the worth for their hardwork. For the public, the vegetables are a little more costly than those one receives from local markets. However, they are 25 per cent cheaper than those stored in organic stores,” he says.
While most of them who sell their wares in the market are farmers, there are a handful of women who are bringing their produce they make at whatever space they cultivate at home.
“For example, a few women call me and say they have half a kilo of ladys fingers or tomatoes that they have grown on their balcony. We encourage them to also come to the venue and sell,” he says.
Hari says they pay the school Rs 500 for the venue they take every Sunday. “There is a huge crowd. The initiative is very new and we hope to continue as the strength of the farmers grow,” he said.
C Jayasree, a former teacher and now a farmer, says the organic market is giving her and her husband a better venue to sell their produce. “We are small-time farmers from Elavoor in Angamaly. I gave up my job as a teacher to pursue farming full-time. However, when we present our produce to the markets, it is hardly accepted and we are not valued. This is the same in organic shops. Such markets are an opportunity for us,” said Jayasree.