Despite teething problems, stalls are benefiting both farmers and consumers

Before she quotes the price of organic brinjal at her stall, Meka Gayathri explains what is different about the smaller and lacklustre vegetable.

“It’s like something grown in your backyard — without chemical pesticides and fertilizers, and therefore healthy,” she says, surrounded by baskets of bitter gourd, papaya and chillies at the Patamata Rythu Bazaar here.

Since November 22, when a farmer set up the stall and employed her, sales have grown manifold. While she procured only five kg of bitter gourd from the farmer in Gannavaram of Krishna district on the opening day, she she sold 37 kg on Friday evening.

Like her stall, 56 organic vegetable, fruit and millet stalls have been allotted space by the government at Rythu Bazaars — markets where farmers directly sell their produce to buyers without middlemen across urban areas in the State.

Hari Babu, a lift operator by profession, says he made the switch to organic vegetables two years ago. “I care for my health and have been buying organic products for two years now. Prices here are ₹3-5 cheaper than in supermarkets,” he says.

For vegetables that are not grown locally in Gannavaram, Nunna, Kankipadu or Penamaluru, products are sourced from West Godavari and Srikakulam districts, and even from Karnataka.

Networks of farmers like Go Adharitha Sangam, a farmer producer organisation (FPO), in every region helps them source goods from their peers in other areas. Organic custard apples, for instance, are sourced from Srikakulam district to Vijayawada, says horticulture officer Chandu Joseph Sundaran.

Multiple challenges

The State has roped in the International Competence Centre for Organic Agriculture (ICCOA) and the Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd. (SIMFED) to farm and market produce from 10,000 hectares of certified land. A farmer gets certification if he/she has been practicing the method for at least three years, according to Horticulture Commissioner Chiranjiv Choudhary.

Lack of certification remains a challenge. Except for rice and millets, the products sold at Rythu Bazaars are uncertified. “It is mostly word of mouth and the trust of customers that keeps these stalls going,” Mr. Choudhary says, adding that ‘farms in transition’ that have not been in organic farming for three years are supplying to the bazaars.

Moreover, in the country, certification is done by third party agencies that are recognised by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). These agencies ask for a hefty fee, which, if farmers pay, would inflate prices at the bazaars.

At the Swaraj Maidan Rythu Bazaar here, Vijaya Babu’s rice stall wears a deserted look.

Out of varieties like sugar-free, raw, organic and black, he’s sold just four packets of organic rice priced at ₹60 a kg, which is twice the price of regular rice.

A bazaar official says the quality of organic rice supplied by the government is not good enough.

Ms. Gayathri says buyers sometimes return with purchase saying the same vegetable is being sold for cheaper price at another stall. “We have fixed rates. Those who know what organic is, don’t bargain,” she says, adding that mostly office-goers, who are aware of the benefits of organic produce, are her regular customers.

“The government had asked farmers to sell produce at just ₹5 more than the price at which they procured it. However, they are selling at twice the rates to increase their margins as the yield in organic farming is lesser,” says Mr. Sundaran.

Among districts, Krishna has 20 stalls at all bazaars, Visakhapatnam has 14 at 14, Nellore has 4 at 10, East Godavari has 15 at 4, Chittoor has 2 at 2, Kurnool has 5 at 2, Kadapa has 1 at 1, Anantapur has 1 at 1, Srikakulam has 2 at 1 and Prakasam has 4 at 1. Vizianagaram, West Godavari and Guntur have no stalls.