A daily organic market set up in Super Market area here under the initiative of a Farmers Producers Organisation (FPO) to assist local farmers to sell their produces has been converted into a residential area as it was running into losses.
The market was sponsored by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and inaugurated on September 4, 2018. Now, altogether 35 families are residing in rented houses in the area since the past one year.
Earlier, various local produces such as bamboo shoot, tomato, bitter gourd, bitter eggplant, yam, orange, etc, sourced from various districts of the State were sold at the market. Source informed Nagaland Post that since farmers incurred losses, the FPO converted the market into a residential area.
Sources said it became difficult for FPO to collect Rs 5,000 monthly. The difficulties faced by the farmers in selling their produces were also reported by this paper in November 2018. After the inauguration, FPO was allowed to utilise the market free of cost for one year by Development Authority Nagaland (DAN) and extended due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Sources said the organisation later paid a monthly rent of Rs 70,000, including electricity dues, to DAN. Left with no option to pay the rent, FPO board members decided to convert the marketing shed into a rented residential area in order to pay the rent on time.
The FPO has also converted the market into a godown wherein farmers from Dimapur and other districts were allowed to keep their vegetables on rent basis. Some of the constructed thatched houses were also being used as godowns on hire basis and a few on rend, the sources added. Despite incurring losses, FPO continued to assist farmers as the venture was started for the welfare of farmers.
The FPO has also converted the two-room “Cool Chamber” inaugurated in 2018 by Horticulture adviser Mhathung Yanthan at the market into a storage room as facilities for cold storage were not provided. Sources claimed that they were left with no option but to convert the chamber as cold storage facilities were not provided despite appeals.
Asked about utilisation of pick-up truck donated by former governor PB Acharya, the sources replied that FPO had been using the vehicle to help the farmers transport their produces to the market at a minimal rate.
