Acharya goes organic, donates INR 2 lakh to farmers’ group

Eastern Mirror Desk

Dimapur, Sep. 7: The Governor of Nagaland, PB Acharya, on Friday paid a surprise visit to the Local Products Daily Market, a new marketplace that sells organic food items and goods made by the people of the state.

Local Products Daily Market, which is situated near Super Market in front of Mokokchung bus and taxi stand in Dimapur, was inaugurated by the principal secretary, department of Horticulture, MK Mero, on Tuesday Sep. 4.

The governor lauded the Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) for their initiative in establishing the organic product-based market. He donated INR two lakh to the organisation to buy a pick-up truck for transporting their produce to the market place and bought products from almost all the stalls to encourage the vendors.

On learning that FPO had to pay a monthly rent of INR 10,000 to the Development Authority of Nagaland for the marketing shed, the governor appealed the authority to charge only INR 100 per month for at least a year or till a time when they are well established, saying that it is the duty of everyone to help the poorer section of the society.

Acharya advised the stakeholders to avoid littering the premises with plastic bags and disposable cups and plates. He placed an order for 100 wooden plates and 100 spoons from an artisan vendor within the marketplace and requested the FPO to distribute it to every vendor so that they could use them in the market instead of disposable plates and cups.

The governor suggested the vendors to replace plastic bags with fabric bags and make it available to the customers with minimal price. He also requested the FPO to provide the vendors with chairs with back-rest and elevated vegetable racks.

Governor advised the organisation to have some specific days marked for different tribes so that they could showcase their speciality and attract more customers.

While interacting with Eastern Mirror, the secretary of FPO Dimapur district, Neivizonou Nyekha, informed that a cold chamber will be installed in one of the sheds before the end of this month.

Are products at Local Product Daily Market costlier than other markets?

Eastern Mirror, on Friday, surveyed three popular markets — Local Product Daily Market, Super Market, and New Market — in Dimapur to find out price variation of some essential goods.

It was found out that there is not much price difference; in fact some products like fermented bamboo shoot, okra, and yardlong bean are cheaper at the newly inaugurated Local Product Daily Market though it comes with “organic” tag.

Here is pricing of some products sold in the three markets: