Karnataka farmers worry as Goa likely to cut purchase of vegetables from Belagavi

Many farmers and meat and milk traders from Karnataka’s northern districts depend on Goa's market for their livelihood

Karnataka's farmers and meat traders are in a fix after the Goa government said it would cultivate its own vegetables and fruits in order to be self-reliant.

Reiterating that the government will stop purchasing vegetables from neighbouring states, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on September 27 urged farmers to take up intercropping of turmeric in cashew plantations.

According to Sawant, intercropping could help the Goa, which is at present dependent on other states for supply of vegetables.

"We have started a 'buy back' system in Horticulture Corporation. Henceforth, let us stop importing vegetables from other states and release subsidies to Goan farmers, which is now given to farmers from other states," he had said.

However, this could have an adverse impact on farmers, meat sellers and milk traders from Karnataka’s northern districts that depend on Goa's market for their livelihood.

"About 50 trucks from Belagavi, Chikkodi, Sankeshwar, Gokak, and Ghataprabha from Belagavi district supply about 12 to 15 tonnes of vegetables daily to Goa. About 120 traders in Belagavi district supply vegetables to 1,300 agents in Goa, which has a daily turnover of around Rs 5 crore," Satish Patil, a wholesale vegetable vendor attached to the government agricultural produce market committee (APMC) in Kangrali B K told Hindustan Times.

As per the report, Goa procures 750 tonnes of vegetable, 10 quintals of meat, and 100 kg of flowers daily from Karnataka. The state also gets a supply of over 300,000 litres of milk and over 1,000 kgs of pork.

"Hundreds of farmers in Belagavi who grow vegetables may land in trouble if Goa stops getting horticultural produce from the state," Belagavi Taluk Harisu Sene's Appasaheb Desai told the publication.

"The vegetables are harvested in small intervals and are known as money crops as the farmers get cash immediately if taken to APMCs or market. They will suffer without that," he added.

Tonnes of vegetables and fruits are procured by the Goa government's state horticultural corporation every day and sold through official kiosks at subsidised rates in Goa. This quantum of imported vegetables is a fraction of the produce imported into the state from Karnataka and Maharashtra, due to the dearth of such produce available in Goa.