Kerala Agriculture Minister P. Prasad has stated that Horticorp will clear dues to farmers by March 31 and that a sum of Rs. 3 crore has been sanctioned for this purpose.
On Sunday evening, after visiting Kanthalloor's vegetable farms, he spoke to reporters at Mattupetty. Horticorp will get the funds in phases.
He stated that the government was starting a program to encourage all landowners to engage in farming to fulfill the goals of the Subhiksha Keralam, Surakshitha Bhakshanam project.
Farmers will receive free seeds and saplings as part of the initiative, which will be introduced across the state. All government departments would support the proposal.
Pesticide-free food
Prasad also said that pesticide-free food is a basic requirement, and studies have shown that current food patterns are responsible for 30 to 40% of lifestyle disorders.
Safe vegetables can be produced by a public movement that involved everyone in farming, even on a small scale.
Vattavada and Kanthalloor, he noted, were important sites for cool-season vegetable growing.
Farmers, on the other hand, were forced to sell their crops to private agents who paid them throughout the planting season.
Farmers did not receive a competitive price for their produce as a result of this dependency. Pesticide use was known to be low in the vegetable crops from the two villages.
Centers for processing
Prasad stated that food processing and vegetable procuring centers would be established to avoid vegetables from rotting and costing farmers money.
Agribusiness firms would be encouraged to produce value-added goods.
According to him, the state consumes over 70 lakh tonnes of vegetables each year.
In 2016, the state generated over 60 lakh tonnes of vegetables. Last year's vegetable production was estimated to be 15, 70,000 tones.
Up to 8,000 farmers' organizations and 2,000 farmers' societies will be founded to increase farm production and make value-added products. Traditional seeds will be protected, and sound agricultural practices would be promoted, he said.
