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Padmaja Gladis looks forward to Saturdays. That is when she sells vegetables and leafy greens grown at her home, besides eggs, coconuts, coconut oil and mushrooms among other things, at the farmers’ market near Avukkulam Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, a few kilometres from Powdikonam junction. The homemaker is one of the vendors at the Saturday market organised by Haritham Organic Group, a farmers’ collective.
A vendor selling produce at the Saturday market by Haritham Organic Group
| Photo Credit:
Athira M
Meanwhile, another homemaker, Sathidevi, sells homegrown curry leaves, banana flower, banana stem, mangoes and homemade pickle at the farmers’ market held on Saturdays and Sundays by Haritha Group, another farmers’ group, at Cheruvaykkal near Sreekaryam junction. Jyothis Kumar, a seasoned farmer, sells homegrown produce, including spices, at the Sunday market at Orthodox Student Centre, opposite AKG Centre, Palayam, while Indira Nair turns up every week at the Saturday market at Gandhi Bhavan with vegetables from her kitchen garden, along with homemade snacks and desserts.
Saturday sale near Avukkulam Sree Dharma Sastha Temple, near Powdikkonam
| Photo Credit:
Athira M
They are among the scores of farming enthusiasts who are regulars at the weekly farmers’ markets that happen within Thiruvananthapuram city and its outskirts. They sell vegetables, fruits and other produce grown in their backyards or terraces. The demand for organic or safe-to-eat produce has helped these farmers find a steady market for their harvest.
Besides vegetables, these markets now have seasonal fruits such as mangoes and jackfruit. Milk, curd, eggs, oil, spices, different varieties of chillies and amaranthus, greens such as lettuce, spinach, mint, pandan leaves etc, often make it to these markets.
“I have been growing vegetables and greens at home. Earlier, the excess produce would go waste or would be distributed in the neighbourhood, free of cost. But the Saturday sale now earns me an income and the response has been overwhelming,” says Padmaja.
Started in December last year, the sale is held on the premises of the house of Kanakalatha LS, one of the members of the group, who grows all kinds of vegetables and also rears poultry, goat, cows and rabbit in her backyard.
Valsala Sudhakaran, president of Haritham, says that the group has 114 members all of whom fall under the purview of the Sreekaryam Krishi Bhavan, which provides support and guidance to the farmers in organic farming. Maya Babu, an executive member, adds that the Krishi Bhavan has chosen Haritham as an Urban Street Market and has provided them with a weighing machine and other facilities to conduct the sale. Monthly classes are held for the members by the officials. The sale begins at 9am and gets over in an hour or so.
From the farmers’ market at Cheruvaykkal near Sreekaryam
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Ulloor Krishi Bhavan was instrumental in the launch of Haritha Group at Cheruvaykkal five years ago, says MA Prasad, who heads the group. “Prior to the pandemic, we conducted the sale only on Sundays. It’s been two years since it became a two-day affair,” adds M Kesavan, an office-bearer. The two-day sale starts at 7.30am and goes on till 12 noon.
A view of the organic market at Gandhi Bhavan, Thycaud
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp have played a big role in the launch of weekly markets at Gandhi Bhavan and Orthodox Student Centre. Swadeshi Karshika Vipani, the Saturday market at Gandhi Bhavan, that had gone defunct during the pandemic and has now been replaced by the organic market, was born out of a WhatsApp group of kitchen gardeners. It is currently run by Farm Journalists’ Forum with the support of Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi and Ananthapuri Jaiva Padana Kalari. “Of the 60 farmers registered with us, 30 turn up to sell their produce, if not on all weeks. The majority of them are terrace gardeners,” says NG Balachandranath, general secretary of Farm Journalists’ Forum. Besides vegetables and fruits, homemade desserts, snacks, masalas and pickles are sold at some counters from 10am onwards.
The weekly market at Orthodox Student Centre is an initiative of the WhatsApp group of the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of Krishi Bhoomi, a Facebook group of farmers — mostly terrace farmers — that has a pan-Kerala presence, says KP Krishnakumar, chief admin of the group. Started in 2017 at the residence of one of the farmers at Pattom, it was later shifted to Kesavadasapuram before moving to the current location. While the group has 200 members, 150 are active farmers, out of which 23 have registered for the Sunday sale, says K R Hariharan, one of the admins. This Sunday’s (April 16) market will be the 210th one. The sale begins at 10am.
Crowd at the Sunday market at Aramkallu in Karakulam panchayat
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Meanwhile, it will be the 200th edition of the market at Aramkallu this Sunday. Run by Samabhavana Residents’ Association, the market sees over a dozen farmers selling produce every week. “We are a 600-member strong WhatsApp group, out of which 60 are actively into farming. Once we post the list of items available for the week, customers can place orders. Those who book in advance will be given preference over those who haven’t,” says E Sreerangan, spokesperson of the market. Sale starts at 7.30am and winds up within two hours.
At all these markets, the rates are fixed after taking the rates in local market into account.
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