PERAMBALUR: In a move spelling cheer for shallot farmers, two farmer producer organisations (FPOs) based in the district have jointly entered into an MoU with the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (HORTICORP) enabling the latter to procure from them the small onions harvested by Perambalur farmers. The initiative of the district administration will help local farmers to get better prices for their harvest as well as avoid middlemen’s intervention, officials said.
The MoU signed between the Perambalur District Maize and Small Onion Farmer Producer Company Limited and the Alathur Collective Farming Farmer Producer Company Limited with HORTICORP on Tuesday follows a meeting of the District Export Promotion Committee that Collector Grace Pachuau chaired on December 17. The district has topped in the state’s shallot cultivation for over a decade. Of the two back-to-back cultivation seasons annually, the yield is highest during rabi season, with about 5,900 hectares coming under the cultivation on average.
Sub Collector Gokul, who was present during the signing of the MoU, said, "We started this initiative after discussions with shallot farmers who often complain there is no fair price for their produce and that middlemen prevent them from selling in wholesale markets. Through the FPOs, Kerala’s HORTICORP will now purchase shallots from [Perambalur] farmers at prices fixed in the local farmers' market (uzhavar sandhai). It (HORTICORP) will also pay the FPOs Re 1 for every kilogram of shallots purchased. It will bear the transportation costs as well.”
"The MoU will be renewed every five months if the shallot sales are successful. HORTICORP is ready to purchase other vegetables also from us. Efforts in this regard will be made after discussions with the farmers," he added. On the initiative, P Periyasamy, a local farmer, said, "It will enable us to avoid relying on middlemen to sell our harvest."