The Maharashtra agriculturedepartment is getting farmers to form groups to sell vegetables and other essential items directly to consumers during the 21-day lockdown in place to combat the novel coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Saturday.He said farmers have ample stock of vegetables and fruits but lack of transport in view of the lockdown has affected the normal supply chain from cultivator to consumer."We are forming and strengthening cultivator groups to sell directly as part of the farmer to consumer mechanism. We are working to ensure efficiency of this model is enhanced. These groups can take bulk orders directly from people," he said."They prepare a 3kg or 5kg pack which contains several types of vegetables and deliver directly to housing societies. We have set up a dedicated control room for coordination and superintendent agriculture officers are responsible for its smooth functioning at district levels," he added.The agriculture department is also working to get permits from Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) to allow farmers to ferry the produce, he said.
