State unveils ‘Organic Haat’ at New Town
Kolkata: The Agricultural Marketing department on Tuesday unveiled the first-of-its-kind ‘organic haat’ (market) christened as ‘Sufal Bangla Green’ at New Town.
The organic haat will act as a platform for selling seasonal vegetables and fruits and various other necessary ingredients that are produced through organic farming. “The developed countries in the world have shifted to organic farming amid complaints of pesticide use in agriculture which is detrimental to health. The people of the state too would love organic products if they are sanguine of the genuineness. Vegetables, fruits and various other items such as rice, pulses, spices, oil, ghee, honey etc. produced through an organic method will be sold in the hub,” a senior official of the department said. Becharam Manna, minister of Agricultural Marketing department said that there are 16 stalls selling various products in the first and second floor while the ground floor houses seasonal vegetables and fruit market. A group of 34 farmers associated with organic farming in the state have been enrolled in online mode for selling their produce here.
“Organic products are presently available in several retail chain stores in the city but the prices of the products are beyond the purchase capacity of common people. The organic products will be available at a reasonable rate in this haat to make it affordable to the common people,” the official added. The total cost of setting up this infrastructure is over Rs 11.96 crore.
The seven-story building on 988.5 sq. metre land will soon have an advanced laboratory with skilled professionals for testing of the organic products. This dedicated hub of organic fertiliser will ensure that the farmers get an assured return through organic farming, Manna said.
Additional Chief Secretary of the department, Anil Verma, project officer of Sufal Bangla, Gautam Mukherjee, along with former agriculture minister Purnendu Basu and MP Dola Sen, among others, were present at the inauguration ceremony.
