Kerala   

E-krishi makes Onam happier for farmers

Novel initiative: The e-krishi banana Onam market at Thrikkalangode, near Manjeri, in Malappuram district.

MALAPPURAM: The people of Thrikkalangode in Malappuram district had a happier Onam than those elsewhere in the State. They got banana cheap, thanks to Akshaya e-krishi centre in Thrikkalangode.

The e-krishi centre successfully showed that spiralling market prices could be checked during festivals. It also ensured a good deal for the farmers as well as for the consumers. The Bhoomi Club under Thrikkalangode e-krish centre sold banana for Rs.16 a kg at its special banana counter set up for Onam. The Club purchased banana from the farmers for Rs.15 a kg. Farmers elsewhere got only Rs.13 a kg after the agents’ commission.

In the open market, banana brought from Tamil Nadu and Wayanad was sold between Rs.19 and Rs.22. The e-krishi centre made available indigenous banana for Rs.16 a kg. The demand for the banana was so much that the Akshaya centre restricted the sale to five kilogram for a person.

The centre, however, failed to meet the demand because of the heavy crop loss in recent floods.

Enthused by the success of the venture, the Bhoomi Club members have decided to popularise the scheme in a systematic and better organised manner. e-krishi sales counters were opened at five other centres in the district. “It was a case where the e-krishi centres could intervene and help the farmers get a better price for the produce, especially after the ravage wreaked by the recent floods,” said K. Anvar Sadath, executive director of IT@School and head of e-krishi project.

Sethu Madhavan, Akshaya entrepreneur at Thrikkalangode, said that middlemen used to interfere and spark a scarcity for banana resulting in price increase during festivals like Onam.

“The demand actually came from the members of the Bhoomi Club. According to them, this could be an eye-opener to other farmers who depend on local middlemen to sell their produce,” he said.

e-krishi is a market-driven agricultural initiative that envisages facilitating and enabling farmers to sell their produce using the IT platform of Akshaya.

According to Mr. Sadath, the project will provide a web-based solution to assist small and medium scale farmers as well as owners of large landholdings.

The project is being implemented in Malappuram through 341 Akshaya e-kendras. After the successful pilot project in Malappuram, the Kerala State IT Mission has decided to roll out e-krishi in the districts of Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragode through 1,200 Akshaya centres.

E-krishi has set up a toll-free call centre, which can be reached at 1800-425-1661 and 0471-2700965. More than 25,000 farmers and buyers have registered on the e-krishi portal for selling and buying produces in Malappuram district.

Using the e-krishi platform, the Civil Supplies Corporation recently procured 68 tonnes of paddy from Ponnani taluk.

This benefited 207 farmers Ponnani.

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