MUMBAI, 9 May 2020: With COVID 19 crisis hampering agricultural activities and extending lockdown have again make farmers difficult to reach markets and traders, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telegana state governments have to come to the rescue.
The state governments are providing farmers with online platform for direct selling on their produce to consumers.
Maharashtra state, which is one of the leading producer of mango fruit crops cultivates mangoes in 4.3 lakh ha and produces 6.3 lakh tonnes with productivity of 1.5 tonnes/ha is also helping farmers go online. Not to miss, alphonso mangoes are world famous for their taste and aroma and fetch premium price in the export market.
The state’s Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) along with Kokan Bhumi Pratisthan has also come up with an online platform to connect farmers and end users for direct delivery. The pratisthan has started transporting the alphonso mangoes from Konkan to certain parts of cities like Mumbai, Thane, Vasai, Pune and Pimpri.
Karnataka State Mango Development and Marketing Corporation Limited (KSMDMCL) on the other hand have started a portal Karsiri Mangoes for helping farmers to sell mangoes. The state agency has roped in India Post to deliver mangoes to customer’s doorstep.
Whereas, the Telangana Department of Horticulture in collaboration with Telangana State Horticulture Development Corporation Limited have started a web portal named T-Fresh to supply fresh fruits and vegetables to the consumers of twin cities of Hyderabad at their doorstep.
Using social media for direct selling
Many farmers have started using social media platform like Whatsapp and Facebook to sell mangoes directly to customers. Farmers are getting better remuneration due to elimination of middle men and customers are also getting mangoes at cheaper price.
Speaking on this, an alphonso farmer said that they have started selling mangoes directly to high end societies in Mumbai.
Previously, we were selling our crop to traders in Mumbai, which were fetching us INR 700 per four dozen, now we are getting INR 1500 for the same.
Selling directly to consumers in the cities is win-win situation for both the farmer and the consumer.
Farmers opting for online food delivery apps
Many progressive farmers and wholesalers are also partnering with food delivery apps for direct selling of mangoes. Due to lockdown demand has declined and farmers are looking out for alternate marketing channels.