Vijayawada: Even though the entire city is surrounded by agriculture fields, the people of Vijayawada city are facing scarcity of vegetables frequently due to the negligent attitude towards cultivation and promotion of vegetables in the region.
The government has introduced and selected several cities for vegetables promotion, but the farmers of the region have not been getting any benefits so far.
According to official sources, the city needs nearly 20,000 tonnes of vegetables per day. The biggest Rytu Bazaar in the city, at Swarajya Maidan, sells highest quantity of vegetables, an average of 5,000 tonnes a day.
The other Rytu Bazaars at Patamata and Singhnagar also sell almost 5,000 tonnes of vegetables each day. ?However, only 50 per cent of the city’s total requirement of vegetables is grown in the city surroundings.
The city is also importing some variety of vegetables from other parts of the state. As a result, citizens are forced to pay higher prices and sometimes are facing vegetables scarcity.
Unfortunately, the city is also not included in the Rashtriya Krishi Vikasa Yojana (RKVY) scheme, among other several cities of the state. The Union ministry of agriculture and the horticulture department have not selected Vijayawada city for implementing the scheme.
As per the scheme, the government supports vegetable cultivation in 30 villages surround the target city. Moreover, the Union agriculture ministry allocates '5 crore to '15 crore in financial aid to the farmers of the target city and its surroundings.
Similarly, under the scheme, the horticulture department officials would have to provide proper training facilities to farmers, financial aid for establishing sheds, supply seeds, marketing tie ups and goods carriage vehicles by 50 per cent subsidy.
If the scheme is implemented, the citizens could buy the vegetables at reasonable prices. Apart from this, the scarcity of vegetables can also be avoided, said model farmer, A. Venkatappa Reddy. He asked the government to select the city for the scheme.
G. Lakshmi, a resident of Ayyappanagar, requested the officials to take steps to avoid the fluctuation of prices. She said that the citizens were witnessing unbearably high prices. A horticulture official said the negligence of the public representatives from the city is one of the reasons for the situation.
