VIJAYAWADA: For making organic vegetables and fruits more accessible to people, Krishna district administration will soon be setting up separate stalls for them at Rythu Bazaars. The first such stall is likely to come up at the Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazaar in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
In the next one week or so, all Rythu Bazaars in the district will have stalls exclusively set up for selling organic vegetables and fruits that are cultivated with zero budget natural farming. Apart from organic vegetables and fruits, the officials are also planning to make available organic millets and pulses at these stalls.
District collector B Lakshmikantham instructed the district agriculture department officials to allocate some space in the markets for these stalls. Officials concerned said that the stalls at Rythu Bazaars will not only be open for farmers to sell their produce, but also for people who have set up rooftop gardens for cultivating organically.
As of now there are around 22 Rythu Bazaars across the district. Based on the amount of produce, the number of stalls for each Rythu Bazaar would be decided. “It is time we set up separate stalls for organic vegetables. It will be convenient for both farmers and customers,” Lakshmikantham said. According to officials, Chittoor district is already implementing the proposed idea and is receiving a good response. Meanwhile, the district officials are preparing a list of farmers who have adopted ZBNF and estimating the produce they would get on a daily basis. Based on these numbers, stalls at Rythu Bazaar would be allocated.
Speaking to TNIE, Ajay Babu, assistant director of horticulture department said, “Soon we will have a special marketplace for the farmers selling natural organic produce. Once they get a market, many more farmers will get encouraged to take up organic farming. If the demand for organic crops is good, more farmers will naturally adopt zero budget natural farming.’’