Given the COVID-19 scenario in the State, the Agriculture Department has formed a crisis management cell for monitoring the procurement and availability of agricultural goods.
The cell is headed by Agriculture Production Commissioner Devendra Kumar Singh. Agriculture Director K. Vasuki is the convener.
Review meet
The cell will meet every week and review the availability, price and procurement of agricultural commodities and submit a report to the Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar. The cell will also coordinate with the district-level agricultural officers and other government departments.
Apart from senior officers of the Agriculture Department, the cell has as its members the chairman, Prices Board, and the managing directors of the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp), the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK), KERAFED, Oil Palm India Ltd, Kerala State Warehousing Corporation and Kerala Agro Industries Corporation Ltd (KAICO).
Essential service
On Thursday, the government had issued orders including the harvest and procurement of paddy and operation of rice mills, oil mills and flour mills in the list of essential services.
