Hopcoms opens its first hi-tech stall in city

Facility created at estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh; banana ripening chamber too dedicated

Henceforth the customers of Horticulture Produce Cooperative Marketing Society (Hopcoms) can weigh the quality of vegetables and fruits before zeroing in on the same. Thanks to the horticulture department for building a hi-tech stall by razing the earlier structure at Curzon Park, adjacent to KSRTC city bus stand.

Minister for horticulture and sugar S A Ravindranath on Tuesday dedicated the facility akin to that of multi-national companies, created at an estimated cost of Rs 20 lakh.

The project was taken up under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojane. In the new set up, the customers can walk inside the stall, have a closer look of the items neatly arranged in racks before picking them up.

Of the total 53 stalls in the city, the afore mentioned stall is the first of its kind on modern lines. It was also the first stall to be opened here way back in 1959 by ‘Father of Horticulture’ Marigowda.

On an average, the society records sales of Rs 2 lakh per day in the city. By opening the hi-tech stall, the revenue is expected to increase by Rs 50,000. The stalls at V V Mohalla, Ballal Circle, Saraswatipuram and Kuvempunagar may also go hi-tech in the coming years.

Another hi-tech facility to make a start was banana ripening chamber in Curzon Park, built at an estimated cost of Rs 16 lakh. With banana being the most selling produce in the stalls, hopcoms has adopted the system on the lines of foreign countries.

The chamber has a capacity of nearly three tonnes. The banana stored in crates will be preserved in the chamber for ripening deploying ethanol treatment. The steam generated in the chamber helps banana ripen in just 24 hours. Earlier, it was being ripened using manual method. 

According to sources, nearly 3,000 farmers are dependent on Hopcoms for selling their produce.

Daily wagers

Replying to media queries, the minister said the daily wagers will be regularised at the earliest.

However, he declined to come out with a concrete version but maintained that 80 per cent of the revenue generated will be distributed among the workers.

In Mysore district alone, the number of daily wagers is 28 in Hopcoms against 98 permanent employees.