Hopcoms opens up grape, watermelon mela; Requests Rs 25 cr interest-free loan from govt

A grape and watermelon mela by the Horticultural Producers Co-operative Marketing and Processing Society (HOPCOMS) was inaugurated on Wednesday at Lalbagh.

This year, there were 10-12 varieties of grape and around three to four varieties of watermelon. The mela will go on till the end of March. These fruits will be available at a cheaper rate at around 250 Hopcoms stores in Bengaluru.

Grape is mostly sourced from Bagalkote, Vijayapura and Chikkaballapur districts from the farmers directly at a nominal rate.

The target this year is to market around 500 tonnes of grape and 1,500 tonnes of watermelon. The price per kilo of grape starts from Rs 70. During the last year’s mela, around 350 tonnes of grape and 1,000 tonnes of watermelon were sold. The total turnover was around Rs 6 crore to Rs. 6.5 crore. This year’s target is Rs 8 crore to Rs 10 crore.

The Hopcoms has 7,000 member farmers, of which grape growers are around 500-600. During the mela, companies like VRL and SRS have arranged private buses for the farmers. They can pack their produce in 2 kg boxes and send them on these buses. Daily five to six-tonne boxes of grape are sent through these buses. Only Chikkaballapur farmers bring their produce on their vehicles to the horticulture collection centre as they are near to the city.

Stall at Lalbagh

Hopcoms has a 2,000 sq ft stall at its head office in Lalbagh that sees the largest quantum of sale.

“We request consumers to visit the Hopcoms and buy more from these stores as it would directly benefit the farmers. There are no middlemen. The payment is made via online banking directly to their bank accounts,” said B N Prasad, Managing Director, Hopcoms.

“The Hopcoms has requested for an interest-free loan of Rs 25 crore from the government. We’ve requested it for store up-gradation, creation of cold storage facilities, and collection facilities to increase the purchase volume from farmers. Currently, we’re doing business of 60-70 tonnes a day. We’re looking to scale it up to 100 tonnes a day,” added Prasad.

Horticulture Minister Narayana Gowda assured the Hopcoms officials to speak to the chief minister about their request and accommodate it in the state Budget to be presented on March 5.

Varieties of Green Grape

Thompson Seedless: Rs 70/kg

Taj Ganesh: Rs 72/kg

Sonaka: Rs 80/kg

Super Sonaka

Varieties of Black Grape

Krishna: Rs 110/kg

Sharad: Rs 110/kg

Jambu: Rs 160/kg

Indian Red Globe

Australian Red Globe

Bangalore Blue

Varieties of
watermelon

Kiran: Rs 12/kg

Namdhari: Rs. 20/kg

Yellow Pulp: Rs 35/kg

Hopcoms has stalls in Kasturinagar and Sadashivanagar

The Hopcoms intends to have mobile vans in apartment complexes, conduct a mela in IT companies like Infosys and Wipro every year for 10-15 days, and in tech parks like Manyata Tech Park.