The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : `30 p.c. of horticulturists have given up farming'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 18, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

`30 p.c. of horticulturists have given up farming'

By Our Staff Correspondent

By Our Staff

Correspondent

MANGALORE, NOV. 17. Though Dakshina Kannada has been classified as a horticultural district, the district lacks marketing facilities for locally grown produce.

Growers are being systematically pushed out of the regular market system on account of the apathy of the local market committees.

Following the fall in production, vegetable gardens are falling prey to the building industry as the growers find that selling their plots to real-estate dealers is an easier way to earn money.

Research paper

A research paper prepared by the School of Social Work at Roshni Nilaya here shows that nearly 30 per cent of the local horticulturists have given up farming.

The new generation has moved on to other professions, which is a serious setback to horticultural development.

According to Rita Naronha, one of the researchers, the production of vegetables in villages has reduced on account of the market being controlled by wholesale vegetable dealers and the import of vegetables from nearby districts.

She says the demand for locally grown vegetables has decreased and local vendors are slowly being pushed out of the markets, especially in the urban areas in Mangalore.

Women growers

The study shows that the social life of women, who earn money by growing vegetables in their backyards, has been affected.

Mary Machado, president of the new Women Vegetable Producers' and Head-load Vendors' Cooperative Society, said there were about 500 such vendors who went to the Mangalore Central Market from Bantwal, Neerumarga, Bajpe, and several places around Mangalore.

They paid a cess of Rs. 6 lakhs annually to the Mangalore City Corporation, she said.

Though the city corporation recently increased the cess from Re. 1 to Rs. 4, these vendors were not given a place to sit and sell their merchandise, she added.

Funds

The society is trying to impress on the corporation authorities the need to allot them a place inside the market, which will centralise the sales of locally grown vegetables.

The corporation has allotted Rs. 25 lakhs in the budget for the development of the Central Market. The society hopes that an amount will be earmarked for a sales outlet for the vendors.

`Wasteful investment'

The Mayor, Purandaradasa Kulur, says that a space for the vendors can be considered but the head-load sellers complete their business in the early part of the day, which will make the putting up of a shelter for them a wasteful investment.

He says that when the market was built, a place was allotted for the local vegetable growers, but over the past decade, encroachment by merchants has made the market congested.

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