This year, abundant rainfall and water availability facilitated a bountiful tomato harvest in Salem and Dharmapuri districts, while farmers in Cuddalore successfully cultivated jackfruits.
But due to high production, the price of tomatoes was reduced to Rs 3 to Rs 5 per kg in the wholesale market, which forced farmers to leave it to rot. To improve the profits of the farmers, the Salem Agriculture Marketing Department and Agri-Business (AMDAB) have collaborated with farmer’s producer organizations (FPO) in Salem and conducted trade via the online portal e-NAM. As there are no middlemen in the trade, the amount is directly paid into the accounts of the farmers.
Salem District Deputy Director, AMDAB, V. Balasubramanian said that one FPO has 1,000 members and functions like a company. The farmer will take a photo of his produce and upload it to the e-NAM portal, where buyers can purchase it. “We helped the Dharmapuri farmers upload their tomato photos to the portal, and through a FPO in Salem, we fixed ₹ 8 per kg of tomatoes.
As FPO members are selling the produce in Uzhavar Shandies, the procured tomatoes from Dharmapuri are sold for Rs 10 in Uzhavar Shandies in Salem. Per day, we need 25 tonnes of tomatoes at Uzhavar Shandies in Salem district, but we receive only seven tonnes per day. But now that FPO procures through e-NAM, on Monday we received 23 tonnes of tomatoes from Dharmapuri," Balasubramanian said.
Similarly, the jackfruit, which was procured for Rs 20 per kg from farmers by traders, was sold at Rs 40 in the market. Now, through a FPO in Salem, the farmers directly buy jackfurit from Cuddalore for Rs 25 to Rs 26 per kg and sell it in Uzhavar Shandies in Salem.
In a single day, 3.5 tonnes of jackfruit were sold in Salem Uzhavar Shandies due to the lower price. As people and farmers give a good response, soon mangoes and brinjals will be procured under e-Nam, Mr. Balasubramanian said.
