Farmers Movement Archive

Vallah sabzi mandi shut today

Amritsar, April 15The Vegetable Growers Association has demanded from the administration to ensure that its representatives be kept in the loop whenever a decision to close Vallah sabzi mandi has to be taken.The administration along with arthiyas on Tuesday decided to keep the mandi closed on Wednesday for violating norms of social distancing. However, the decision was reversed after the association took up the matter with the administration reasoning that vegetable growers should be informed well in advance.Later, the administration took the decision to keep the market closed on Thursday. Lakhbir Singh Nijampura of the Vegetable Growers Association said, “The farmers have to pluck the vegetables a day before going to sabzi mandi. The plucked vegetables have a short shelf life and farmers have to face losses.” The administration has also invited them for a meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue, he said.The vegetable growers have also stated that farmers are getting only Rs 2 per kg for cucumber while it is being sold for at least Rs 10 per kg by vendors. “We work for months, spend heavily on seeds and other farmer practices. But we get Rs 2 per kg and the vender who wakes up in the morning makes a profit of Rs 8 per kg,” said another farmer Kuldeep Singh adding that farmers’ should be allowed to sell their produce in the city.Restrictions on transportation limit fruit varietyFruit sellers in the city complain that due to restrictions on transportation of fruits from other states, the variety of fruits in the city is limited and even the quality is not good as they are getting stocks from cold stores. The most visible fruits in the market these days are papaya, bananas and kinnow.The shopkeepers say even sales have gone down as the customer is apprehensive and is not ready to take fruits home. Pawan Kumar, wholesaler at Hall Gate fruit market, said, “The stocks are limited and customers are too less.” The venders in streets are selling only papaya and bananas as most other fruits are not widely available, he added.

The Tribune

2020-04-16