Syngenta, Nabard develop vegetable market in Hirekerur, Karnataka

Farmers of 50 villages and agri traders will immensely benefit from a state-of-the-art vegetable market developed by Syngenta India at Hirekerur.

“I thank Syngenta India and NABARD for coming together to give a new look to Hirekerur vegetable market under their CSR programmes,” said Karnataka Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare Minister B C Patil inaugurating the upgraded market on Thursday.

One of the unique projects of its kind, both in quality and magnitude, the Hirekerur vegetable market is spread over a sprawling 85,000 sq ft, with 12 platforms, 68,000 sq ft of covered roof, seven sheds, 16 solar lights, 21 roof ventilators, 130 boards with safety messages and two arches, Syngenta said in a statement.

All this will greatly facilitate the selling and buying experiences of farmers, traders and consumers. It will add to enhancing farmers’ incomes as well.

I-CLEAN project

Susheel Kumar, Managing Director, Syngenta India Pvt Ltd, said Hirekerur vegetable market has been upgraded under I-CLEAN (Inculcating Cleanliness, Learning, Education, Awareness and New Habits), one of our most innovative sustainable solutions with a long-term impact on the socio-economic conditions of rural communities in India.

“The vegetable market at Hirekerur has facility for 500 vendors. The weekly average footfall of over 15,000 has been factored in while making this facility. We have also developed rainwater harvesting structure throughout the market and the water collected is discharged to the nearby lake, making this a unique facility of its kind,” added Kumar.

Reflecting about I-CLEAN Hirekerur project, KC Ravi, Chief Sustainability Officer, Syngenta India, said, “A vegetable market is the nerve-centre of rural economies, and it acts as the convergence point of opportunities — for farmers, traders and consumers. We’re glad to have run this unique program I-CLEAN across 25 rural locations in four States, which has helped over 500,000 farmers and farm workers improve their lives and incomes”.

Sharing the vision behind NABARD-Syngenta India collaboration for Hirekerur vegetable market project, T Ramesh, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Karnataka, said that “our common goal is to accelerate the pace of contribution to rural economies by creating access to modern facilities for farmers and other stakeholders. It will help them to increase their income and improve their livelihoods as well.”