Here is good news for consumers of organic vegetables and fruits, especially those in Bangalore, as the Jaivik Krishik Society, a nodal agency for promotion of organic farming, is not only establishing a centre on the lines of the Hopcoms to procure, package and market organic produce but is also setting up five organic retail sales outlets across the city.
The procurement centre is coming up in Nelamangala — at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh — and the retail outlets will open in March next year.
Competitive prices
This move will benefit both farmers as well as consumers. While growers of organic produce around Bangalore Urban district get a procurement centre working on a cooperative basis, consumers can hope for quality organic produce at competitive prices. Announcing this at a press conference here Monday, K. Ramakrishnappa, Jaivik Krishik Society honorary president and Additional Director of Horticulture, said the retail units would be set up in Koramangala, Sanjaynagar, Banashankari, Rajajinagar and Mahalakshmi Layout. They will function from Hopcoms’s retail outlets that have been shut down in these areas.
Prices of the organic produce to be marketed through these outlets will be 25 per cent cheaper than private outlets. At the same time, they will be some 25 to 30 per cent costlier than non-organic produce.
The society plans to set up a procurement centre in Mysore some time next year. It will also open retail units in all the district centres in a phased manner.
To ensure stringent organic certification norms at reasonable prices for growers, the society will adopt the Participatory Guarantee Scheme (PGS) under which farmers themselves will be quality inspectors, Mr. Ramakrishnappa said.

SOURCE: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/organic-cooperative-to-open-five-retail-outlets/article4069242.ece