ITANAGAR, Apr 17: Horticulture Secretary Bidol Tayeng has written to the deputy commissioners of the state to activate the agricultural produce market committees (APMC) in all the districts.
Highlighting the shortage of green vegetables in the state, the secretary said either their import has been banned for some time or they are not coming from Assam due to the lockdown.
“The situation in most of the districts is manageable as vegetables from the rural areas are finding markets in the districts’ towns. However, the situation in the state capital, with more than one lakh population, is acute.
“The state capital depends on Assam to meet 90 percent of its vegetables requirement. The current situation has compelled the vegetables vendors to close down in the last few days,” Tayeng wrote.
He requested the DCs to review the functioning of the APMCs and activate them to deal with the current situation.
The APMCs have also been directed to identify the surplus pockets in the districts and distribute the surplus produces to the deficit pockets in the districts.
“If there is more surplus, the APMC concerned can dispatch the same to the state capital, following certain protocols,” Tayeng said.
Informing that there are about 1000 mts of potatoes in the cold storage in Banderdewa, in Papum Pare district, Tayeng said the APMCs can order potatoes from the storage for areas where there is acute shortage of vegetables.
Meanwhile, the state government has nominated Arunachal Pradesh Agriculture Marketing Board CEO Okit Palling as the state nodal officer for coordinating with the APMCs in all the districts.
