ORMAS lays market link to help watermelon growers
CUTTACK: After successfully providing market linkage to vegetable and mango farmers during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Odisha Rural Development & Marketing Society (ORMAS) has decided to come to the aid of watermelon growers in the district.
It has set up a watermelon sale outlet at the Krushak Bazaar in Cuttack that was inaugurated by DRDA Project Director Ambar Kar in presence of Joint CEO, ORMAS, Bipin Rout on Thursday.
“In a bid to provide direct market linkage between producers and urban customers, the ORMAS has launched an outlet of farm produced watermelons in the city which will be managed by Mahima Sagar Marketing Group of Tigiria,” said Rout.
The group has procured watermelons from the farmers of Tigiria and Badamba by providing them an incremental income of Rs 4 per kg.
It is procuring the produce at Rs 10 per kg while the middlemen are offering Rs 6 per kg to the farmers. Besides, farmers will be selling their produce directly to the group and there will be no involvement of middlemen in the process, Rout said.
“The Mahima Sagar Marketing Group which had procured 1.5 tonne of watermelons has sold over 1 tonne on the first day,” informed Rout adding that there would be no wholesale in the outlet.
It has also been planned to procure watermelons from other blocks of Cuttack district as well as from different parts of Angul, Dhenkanal and Kendrapara district.