Thiruvananthapuram, Sunday 08 August 2010: Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Ratnakaran has said that the Agriculture Department will organise vegetable sales festivals at the district and the village levels all over the State to help prevent the prices of vegetables from going up during the Onam season.

At a press conference here, he said mega festivals would be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Ernakulam and Kottayam districts. The programme would be inaugurated at the State level at the Cantonment Ground in Kollam on August 15. The festivals would be on till noon on the eve of Thiruvonam.

The Horticulture Corporation, Kerala Agriculture University, the State Horticulture Mission and the Vegetable and Fruit Promotion Council Keralam (VFPCK) are associating with the department in conducting the programme. In addition, the corporation and the VFPCK are setting up their own independent vegetable stalls in various centres in the State.
The Minister said the Kera-brand coconut oil produced by Kerafed would be available at these stalls at Rs.56 a litre, which meant a discount of Rs.9.