MARGAO
Local vegetable growers are up in arms over the government’s failure to work out a proper procurement price that would give them a rate to overcome the cost of production and sustain cultivation.
Farmers pointed out that the procurement price of locally-grown chillies and lady fingers have not kept pace with the cost of production, which if not corrected immediately may dissuade many a farmer to quit vegetable cultivation.
A lady farmer from Fatorda told the media that the low procurement rates of chillies and lady fingers have turned the cultivation of these items unprofitable. “We put our heart and soul in growing vegetables so that we get a good remunerative price. But, the prevailing procurement rate does not offer to help us recover the cost involved in the cultivation,” the farmer said, while demanding that the Horticulture Corporation offer better rates for their produce and help to recover the production cost.
When The Goan called up the Horticulture Corporation Managing Director, Sandeep Faldesai to shed light on the grievances of the farmers growing chillies and lady fingers, he said the Corporation goes in for a procurement price based on a laid-down mechanism.
“We have a mechanism in place where the procurement rate is fixed as per the average rate of the corresponding period last year. Accordingly, the Corporation has fixed the rates of the chillies and lady fingers based on the average price of last year,” he added.
Sources in the Agriculture department informed that a proposal was mooted around two years ago to the Director of Agriculture to fix the procurement rate of locally-grown vegetables based on the cost of production. “The proposal offers a ray of hope for the local farmers growing vegetables as they would receive a rate based on the cost of production instead of last year’s average rate. The file, however, has been pending with the Agriculture department for more than a year now,” sources said.
An official warned that failure to work out an attractive rate based on the cost of cultivation may dissuade many an enterprising farmer from cultivating vegetables in the future.
