Hyderabad: With raids uncovering food adulteration of commodities ranging from basic necessities to and milk products, the local farmer markets around the city that provide clean and wholesome food at reasonable prices have come as a relief. Mr Mujtaba Hasan Askari, a health activist and a proponent of buying from local farmer markets, said, “The local farmer markets in villages surrounding the city are good places to pick up clean and wholesome stuff, at reasonable prices. Village haats and bazaars have been an integral part of the village supply chain for ages and they are still relevant today.”
What can be of interest to city folks is the availability of the free-range native chicken or NatiuKodi, eggs and fish at these local markets apart from vegetables, spices, millets and pulses. “The excessive use of antibiotics in poultry is well known. In a recent report the Law Commission has asked the poultry industry to stop indiscriminate use of antibiotics in chicken feed, which is resulting in anti-microbial resistance in humans and it is time we got sensitive to these dangerous trends and start taking care of our health,” he said.
Village bazaars, especially in Shamshabad, Vikarabad, Pargi, Tandur, Shadnagar, Kohir, Narayankhed, Zaheerabad, Vattapally, Tekmal, Papannapet, Medak district and many more, locally grow a range of millets – ragi, fox tail millet (koralu), pearl millet (sajalu) and pulses like green gram (Pesaralu), Bengal gram (Chengalu), red gram (Kandulu), horse gram (Ulvalau), etc.
Since they are fresh and inexpensive, it pays for city dwellers to drive down the distance to stock up for a week. The pulses and cereals as also the fish and poultry come directly from the farm to the market, there is little scope for adulteration. There could be issues with finding small stones in cereals and grains, but these can be easily sorted out. Storage of organic food without additives will always pose a challenge and a lot of care needs to be taken to ensure that they are tightly packed and kept safe.
Local markets can benefit from a dose of city cash, which could save them the cost of transportation and will keep them out of the reach of middlemen. “This will also be a win-win situation for both the farmer and the consumer at large. However, one must be cautious even with items from the local farmer markets,” a regular customer said. “Not all items are organic, particularly the vegetables as we have very few farmers who grow vegetables organically and the consumer should check this before buying,” he added.
