Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 27 (IANS): Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said Kerala had become the first state in the country to fix the floor price for vegetables.

The floor price will be 20 per cent above the production cost of the vegetable. Even if the market price goes below the floor price, the produce will be procured at the floor price from the farmers.

He said this while launching the scheme announcing the floor price for 16 varieties of vegetables, which would come into effect from November 1, often referred to Kerala Formation Day.

"This is the first time in the country that the floor price is being fixed for vegetables produced in the state. This is going to provide relief as well as support for the farmers. The produce will be graded and the floor price will be fixed based on the quality. Sixteen varieties of vegetables would be covered in the first phase and there is a provision to revise the floor price on a regular basis," said Vijayan.

He said the local self-government bodies will have an important role to play in this scheme as they would be coordinating the procurement and distribution of vegetables.

"Farmers can register on the agriculture department's registration portal after insuring the crop to get the benefit of the floor price. The scheme also envisages setting up the entire supply chain process like cold storage facilities and refrigerated vehicles for transporting the produce," added Vijayan.

Kerala over the years has been solely dependent on neighbouring states for its vegetable requirements and in recent times the state's production has doubled to 14.72 lakh metric tonnes.

With this new feature, the target is to increase the production by an additional one lakh metric tonne each of vegetables and tuber crops this year.