Ottapalam: The Ottapalam town is all set to get a permanent marketplace for locally grown vegetables, giving farmers a direct platform to sell their produce at fair prices while offering consumers fresh, farm-direct produce. K Premkumar MLA will inaugurate the market at 9 am on Monday.

The hi-tech fruit and vegetable storage and marketing centre, being launched by the Ottapalam Farmers Welfare Organisation in association with the municipality and Krishi Bhavan, has been set up at a shed near the bus stand. Built by the Ottapalam municipality five years ago, the shed had long been reduced to an unauthorised parking area.

The municipality built the facility in 2021 to establish a permanent marketplace where farmers could sell their produce directly to consumers. However, technical issues kept the centre from becoming operational.

In 2023, the Ariyoor Thekkumuri Library briefly took up vegetable sales at the facility. But the initiative was later discontinued due to management issues, after which the shed was largely used as a parking space by visitors to the town.

The farmers' collective has now stepped in to revive the facility. The market will remain open from 8am to 8pm every day and will also offer home delivery within a 5km radius of Ottapalam. The organisation will procure vegetables directly from farmers and sell them to consumers, eliminating middlemen.

Organisers said the initiative would provide farmers with a more reliable avenue to market their produce while ensuring consumers get locally grown vegetables at reasonable prices. Home delivery will also be available within a 5-km radius of Ottapalam, they said.

N K Jayarajan is the chairman of the collective, Thomas Jacob the convenor, T K Prakashan the treasurer, T Sunil the joint convenor and Babu Madathil the director.