The ‘Farmer Market Building’ launched by Sahachara Horticultural Farmer Producers Organisation was declared open at Damalcheruvu in Pakala mandal of Tirupati district on April 30 (Sunday).
The initiative, jointly funded by the Central and State governments, is meant for providing a direct channel between farmers and the final market, bypassing middlemen.
Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, who inaugurated the premises, lauded the initiative and hoped that it would help farmers get remunerative prices for their produce.
“The farmer-friendly YSRCP government will support such initiatives and stand by farmers who don the role of entrepreneurs,” he said.
Sahachara president M. Vijayababu said that the organisation intended to look beyond procuring and selling farm produce by taking up value addition in the form of crop refinement, processing and making byproducts.
Natural farming expert K. Gangadharam addressed the farmers on the need to go natural to save the soil for posterity. T. Sambasiva, a Hyderabad-based traditional farming expert, distributed native vegetable seeds to people.
District Horticulture Officer B. Dasaratharami Reddy, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh national FPOs convener J. Kumaraswamy and Andhra Pradesh Cow-based Farmers’ Association president B. Ramakrishnama Raju were also present.