The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Vegetable growing still a Herculean task

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Thursday, Jul 01, 2010
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Vegetable growing still a Herculean task

Ramesh Susarla

Tribals in several villages in Agency find it difficult to recover their investment

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

DAILY GRIND: A tribal woman along with her infant sits in the vegetable field bundling coriander leaves at Devuduvalasa in Suvva Valley near Araku in Visakhapatnam district.

ARAKU VALLEY: Suvva Valley 22 km from here is known for its abundance in natural resources and apt conditions prevail for growing vegetables. However, due to lack of proper road connectivity marketing used to be a Herculean task a decade ago. Growing and marketing even today is difficult for a different reason.

In the absence of facility for value addition or proper packaging for better shelf life, vegetables fetch meagre price. All family members toil round-the-year to make a living. So worse is the situation, even pregnant women and young mothers with 21-day infants work in the fields.

In 2001 a road from Sagar near Araku to Suvva Valley was sanctioned at Rs.45 lakh to help tribals reach the nearest town to sell their produce or bring patients to nearest PHC, but did not materialise for a long time. In the recent years a new road was laid under Prime Minister's Grameen Sadak Yojana, which changed their fortune to some extent.

Many tribals, who turned vegetable growers at the instance of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) by shunning Podu (shifting cultivation) to protect their own environment, find it difficult to recover their investment in Panasavalasa, Malivalasa, and Devuduvalasa villages.

Horticulture Department, which boasts of numerous schemes and huge subsidies to help such growers, has never given seeds or other inputs to growers here, Gorlea Simhachalam of Malivalasa told The Hindu.

“We buy seeds at full rate from Araku or Similiguda,” he said. He said they never got plastic crates or polythene covers on 50 per cent subsidy as publicised.

The daily RTC bus services to Rythu bazaars have been restricted to a single day. Coriander leaves, cauliflower, cabbage, carrot, chillies and beans from the valley are most sought-after at Rythu Bazaars.

A van was given by Forest Department long ago to the vegetable growers to carry their produce to Rythu Bazaars in Visakhapatnam. Farmers used to pay a minimum of Rs.4,200 per trip of a five-tonne carrier or Rs.5,500 per trip of a 12-tonner to Visakhapatnam, but now fares have gone up steeply by Rs.400 to Rs.800 following fuel price rise.

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