Shocking info about 70 tonnes of vegetable getting wasted in the Koyambedu market
Posted on: 25/Jul/2022 10:05:12 AM
The increased supply of vegetables in the Koyambedu market in Chennai has resulted in vegetables getting wasted and this is one common issue of both farmers as well as the traders now. The lack of storage facility has been cited as the reason for the vegetable waste
Every month due to lack of proper storage facilities, atleast 70 tonnes of vegetables get wasted in the Koyambedu market. It is now said that if the situation does not improve then food production prices would be adversely impacted. It was brought to light by Mr. P. Sukumaran, secretary of Koyambedu Wholesale Market Merchants that tomatoes were highly wasted vegetables in the market.
He added that the estimation on the wastage and money cannot be given as it was based on the production and supply. It is learnt that the farmers would be affected by 50 percent loss and traders by 25%.
The excess supply of tomatoes has led to the prices reducing to Rs 8 to Rs 12 per kg in the Koyambedu market. Truth is that atleast 3 to 4 tonnes of tomatoes get dumped even if they were sold at a low price. Both farmers as well as the traders have been affected by this.
Mr. Sukumaran later revealed that in case of more vegetable wastage at the Koyambedu market then it would be used as an organic manure for the cultivation of crops. A farmer gets profit only when the vegetable gets sold for more than Rs 20 per kg.
In the months of February and March the vegetable waste would be more in the state of TN. The prices of vegetables increase due to reduced supply during the NE monsoon from October to December.
Lack of storage facility:
One of the most important reasons for vegetable wastage in India was due to the absence of proper storage facilities. This was according to some traders. Storage facilities have been provided to the traders in countries like Latin America and Mexico etc due to similar climatic conditions like India. It is true that these countries have deep freezers for highly perishable commodities.
The issue of lack of proper storage facility here must be addressed as soon as possible. This would in turn help many farmers and wastage would be avoided. The farmers would be able to export the commodities directly also.
Importance of foreign currency was also stressed as it was used for agricultural products and it was claimed by some traders that just 75percent of agriculture was carried out in TN. It was mentioned by a farmer belonging to southern TN that if this situation persists then a lesser number of farmers would be doing agricultural activities leading to the issue of shortage of food.
