Starting Friday, Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) outlets in different parts of Bengaluru will start selling fruits along with HOPCOMS outlets to help farmers as well as consumers. This is as part of measures taken by the government to bail out farmers who are finding it difficult to find buyers.
Co-operation Minister S.T. Somashekhar, who held a meeting with officials and farmers in Bengaluru on Thursday along with Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil, Horticulture Minister Narayana Gowda, and Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar, told The Hindu that HOPCOMS would start procuring all varieties of fruits from farmers from Friday.
Measures will be taken to ensure smooth transportation of produce by farmers to HOPCOMS, which will in turn not only sell in its outlets in Bengaluru, but also allow KMF to sell at its outlets and milk booths, Mr. Somashekhar explained. This measure comes in the wake of farmers dumping their produce as they are unable to find buyers, he noted.
HOPCOMS has also been directed to facilitate bulk delivery of fruits to apartment complexes if there is demand, he said. He said efforts were also being made to convince the owners of wineries, which have shut their operations, to re-open so that grape growers can find bulk buyers.
Mr. Somashekhar said he had spoken to the authorities concerned to re-open the cocoon markets as early as possible to bail out sericulture farmers, who were in dire straits. However, strict measures would be taken to enforce social distancing at these markets, he noted.
Farmers were at the mercy of middlemen and traders who were misusing the opportunity to buy cocoons at ₹100 to ₹120 per kg against the normal price of ₹450 ever since the markets have been closed, he said.
