GUWAHATI, April 13 - Steps are being taken for procurement of surplus fruits and vegetables from farmers in Assam for selling them in the neighbouring states.
Official sources said that a decision in this regard was taken during a review meeting of the State-level committee, which has been tasked with making arrangements for sale of marketable surplus of fruits and vegetables during the ongoing lockdown.
Sources added that Kulendra Talukdar, Commissioner and Secretary (Agriculture), who is also the Chairman of the State-level committee, chaired the meeting held on April 10.
�It focused on ways to arrange procurement of marketable surplus fruits and vegetables from farmers of different districts of Assam to sell them in neighbouring states. Abdul Jalil, Director of Horticulture and Food Processing, contacted all District Agricultural Officers (DAOs) to get the present stock of fruits and vegetables available in the districts,� said an official.
He added that the meeting decided to sanction inter-state movement of fruits and vegetables through authorised vendors.
�Accordingly, transportation to Arunachal Pradesh has started from Sonitpur district. For involvement of a sufficient number of stakeholders for collection of marketable surplus from different districts, some vendors were invited for discussion. It was decided to communicate the details of vendors to all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and DAOs with a request to circulate the same among the producers,� the official said.
According to him, the lockdown has affected both the producers and the consumers and the farmer producers have not been able to sell their crops, even as consumers, especially in urban areas, are unable to procure those items.
�Steps have been taken to ensure supply to consumers within Assam. Now the government is keen to ensure that there is no wastage and therefore, we are focusing on selling the marketable surplus crops in neighbouring states, a step which will benefit our farmers,� he added.
