Joseph Pinto | NT
SALIGAO: With the government mulling setting up farmers’ markets, farmers from Saligao, Parra, Sangolda and Guirim fear that customers, who are health conscious, will not get proper vegetables as the local fresh vegetables will be mixed with the ones supplied from other states.
The farmers said that people will not be in a position to distinguish the local produce from the produce that comes from other states.
Vegetable and fruit vendors from Saligao constituency, who operate along the roadsides, said that the government’s plan to kind of stop people from selling vegetables and fruits along the roads by way of farmers’ market concept is not a good idea.
Parra is famous for watermelon cultivation and farmers from the village cultivate and sell watermelons along the Saligao-Parra road.
Victoria Lobo, a local, said that this locally-grown fruit will lose its worth as the market will be flooded with watermelons from far across and the people will be fooled into buying the fruit which will not be from Parra but from some other state.
A farmer from Saligao, Sunita Naik, said that “vegetables grown by farmers in their fields are usually sold along the roads close to the fields and these are fresh and organically-grown. Customers are health conscious and prefer to buy local produce, but the markets planned by the government will not benefit the farmers selling local produce.”
Premanand, a farmer from Sangolda, said that “those selling vegetables along the roadsides do not sit throughout the day, but wait until their stock is finished. They also do not sell the items at a fixed price. But, it is organically-grown and fresh and, hence, it is preferred by health-conscious people.”
He further stated that if the farmers’ markets are set up it will have to be seen if they operate successfully or end up like the shops in municipal markets that are sublet.
Jaganath Palenkar, a farmer from Calangute, said that “instead of setting up markets the government needs to encourage local farmers to grow vegetables and fruits on a larger scale. People go to the market and buy vegetables that come from other states and are reasonably cheaper. So many farmers have stopped cultivating vegetables as it is not profitable for them. The government should create awareness on health benefits of home-grown vegetables and fruits.”