THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The floor price of 16 varieties of vegetables produced in the state will come into effect from November 1, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
The state would be first in the country to do so to ensure a fair price for farmers, the CM said.
“This is the first time the floor price is being fixed for vegetables produced in the state and Kerala is the first state to do so,” he said. “In all, 16 varieties of vegetables would be covered in the first phase and there is a provision to revise the floor price on a regular basis.”
The initiative was first announced as part of the 100 days-100 programmes announced by the government to tide over the impact of the pandemic, on August 30.
The floor price will be 20% above the production cost of the vegetable. Even if the market price goes below the floor price, the produce will be procured at the floor price from the farmers. The produce and the floor price will be graded as per its quality.
The scheme would benefit a farmer with a maximum of 15 acres of vegetable cultivation per season. They can register on the agriculture department’s registration portal after insuring the crop to get the benefit of the floor price. The registration would start on November 1.
Local bodies will have an important role to play in this scheme as they would be coordinating the procurement and distribution of vegetables. They would be authorised to spend from the viability gap fund to cover the losses. The scheme also envisages setting up the entire supply chain process like cold storage facilities and refrigerated vehicles for transporting the produce.
The CM also said that the vegetable production in the state has more than doubled in the last four-and-a-half years -- from 7 lakh metric tonnes to 14.72 lakh metric tonnes. The target is to increase the production by an additional 1 lakh metric tonne each of vegetables and tuber crops this year.
Here's the list of floor price of vegetables (per kg)