Kerala's 'Pineapple Town' Sends Truckload Of Their Fruits To The Farmers Protesting In Delhi
The nearly 20 tonnes of fruits were sent by the Pineapple Farmers Association on Thursday. The truck was flagged off by Kerala Agriculture Minister VS Sunil Kumar in Vazhakulam a small town in Ernakulam District known as Pineapple city. Pineapple which is GI-tagged is grown in and around the town which is also home to Asias largest pineapple market.
As the ongoing farmers protest in Delhi enter its second month, the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who are currently holding sit-ins along the borders of the national capital are receiving support and love from across the country.
Every day there are more and more people who are traveling from various corners of India to express their support to the protesting farmers, mostly from Punjab, while others chip in with small contributions of their own, to pledge their solidarity.
Reuters
Now a group of pineapple farmers from Kerala has sent a truckload of pineapples to Delhi to show their support to the protesting farmers.
The nearly 20 tonnes of fruits were sent by the Pineapple Farmers Association on Thursday and the truck was flagged off by Kerala Agriculture Minister VS Sunil Kumar in Vazhakulam, a small town in Ernakulam District, known as the Pineapple city.
VS Sunil Kumar/ Facebook
According to the Pineapple farmers of Vazhakulam, it was their way of showing their appreciation to the farmers from Punjab, who are protesting to save the interest of the agrarian community across the country.
Kerala farmers sending Pineapples from Kerala for Farmers protesting at Singhu border. Love attracts love.Punjab stood with Kerala in many difficult times #FarmersProtest #Kerala #Punjab @PunYaab @papalpreetsingh @amaanbali @advojs @singhlawyers @pbhushan1 @batth22 @RaviSinghKA pic.twitter.com/PQprThAYQE
¡ª Amarbir Singh (@DrAmarbirSingh) December 25, 2020
Vazhakulam Pineapple, which is GI-tagged, is grown in and around Vazhakulam town, which is also home to Asia's largest pineapple market and a pineapple research center.
Vazahkulampineapple.in
During the peak season, around 1400 tonnes of pineapples are dispatched across the country from the fruit markets of Vazhakulam.
Like many other crops, pineapple growers in Vazhakulam too have been hit badly by the lockdowns and financial crisis, which has been caused by a drop in demand.
BCCL
In August this year, a pineapple farmer from Vazhakulam had committed suicide due to mounting debts.
The farmer, identified as Anil was growing pineapples at leased land, and due to the slump in demand after the COVID-19 crisis, he had suffered massive losses and had a debt of around Rs 50 lakhs.
Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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