Tripura: Organic farmers demand separate markets. Here's why

When the government is putting stress on Organic Farming and also had already taken notable steps to make Tripura an organic state in coming years, organic farmers were facing diverse challenges to get their produces sold at good prices. Responding to the call of state government, a sizable number of young farmers began working on that line and many of them were making good money out of it.

But, what they were lacking was a rationalized mechanism to get their products marketed within the state. Some of them also said that there was no separation mechanism in the markets and demanded to develop a system that would ensure better prices.

“It is pertinent to say that there is a proper certification process for organic crop-fields. But, when it comes to marketing, in our state there is no specific market where we can sell ours produces. For instance, if I take my organic product in the market with the same product brought by some other farmer, the customer will choose the less priced product. Because the consumer will choose the cheaper ones among the two products which look apparently similar”, said a farmer who has started organic farming at Udaipur.

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Almost in a similar tone, a farmer of Lankamura area of West Tripura district said that it was necessary to have a certified market. This would help the farmers to understand the demand for such products in the local as well as in the outside markets.

“It is very important to have a system to market ours produces. The government should come with a solution for this issue, otherwise, in local markets, nobody can identify organic goods”, said the farmer.

A highly placed source in the state agriculture department said, “We have no such initiatives right now. But, each and every suggestion to empower the farmers will be taken into consideration”.  

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