Kerala is looking at direct purchases from farmers at Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu in a bid to further bring down vegetables prices.
Vegetable consignments had started arriving in the State from Tirunelveli and Mysuru from Thursday onwards under a market intervention programme launched by the Kerala State Horticultural Products Development Corporation (Horticorp).
Horticorp managing director J. Sajeev held preliminary discussions with officials of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture Department in Tenkasi district on Friday. A high-level meeting is likely to be held on December 2 with government officials and representatives of farmer producer organisations (FPO) to finalise a decision.
“There are nine FPOs in Tenkasi district of which four deal with vegetables. Tamil Nadu officials have agreed to arrange a collection point for us,'' Mr. Sajeev said.
Skyrocketing prices had prompted the Kerala Agriculture Department to entrust Horticorp with the direct purchase of vegetables from farmers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Under this initiative, 41 tonnes of vegetables arrived on Thursday and 34.5 tonnes on Friday. Mr. Sajeev said 44 tonnes more arrived on Saturday of which 30.5 tonnes arrived in the southern region and 13.5 tonnes in north Kerala.
However, the heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu continues to be a matter of concern.
Meanwhile, vegetable prices dropped further in the State on Saturday. Tomato, the price of which had touched ₹120 a kg earlier this week, fell to around ₹60 in shops in Thiruvananthapuram. Horticorp further reduced its tomato prices from ₹68 a kg on Friday to ₹56 in Thiruvananthapuram.
