Last week, Kerala state officials announced a minimum support price for farm-fresh fruits and vegetables with effect from November 1. The state will procure the produce when prices drop below cost of production.
According to state Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar, the government has earmarked ₹1.1billion for the scheme, aiming to fix the right price for the produce, raise production and encourage farming. The amount allocated under the scheme for the current year (till March) is ₹350 mln.
To enhance vegetable production, the Kerala government has launched schemes such as Subiksha Keralam and Jeevani. All of them have started yielding results with production touching 1.5 mln tonnes, up from 650,000 tonnes in 2016.
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