Sambalpur: For the first time, watermelons of Sambalpur will be sold in the markets of New Delhi.

A truckload of watermelons flagged off by the collector, Samarth Verma, at an event here in presence of senior officials and farmers, was sent to Delhi.

There have been complaints of distress sale of various vegetables and fruits recently. The farmers are constantly incurring heavy losses against the expenditure on cultivation.

A voluntary agency Jagannath Producer with the active support of Odisha Rural Meeting Society (ORMAS) initiated the venture of displacing huge quantities of watermelons from Sambalpur to New Delhi.

Srimanta Hota from ORMAS, who started the initiative, said they had collected 15.5 tons of watermelons from two cultivators of Dhulipali village in Jujomura block of the district.

The agency had provided financial help to the farmers during their cultivation. The agency members had assured the farmers that they would help them to sell their product at a reasonable rate.

At present, production cost of a kg of watermelon, including transportation, is Rs13.20 paise.

Under an agreement, the watermelons that will be sent from Sambalpur to Delhi will be marketed by Mother Dairy, Hota said. "The taste of our watermelon is very good. I am sure Delhi residents will like it," he said.

"After the first venture, the buyers will go for bulk purchase from the farmers from the interior areas of the state. Similarly, other vegetables like tomatoes will also be sent to Delhi. Rates of tomatoes have dropped drastically. There are reports that the vegetable is being sold at Rs 2 to 3 a kg at remote areas of Bargarh. During the last season, farmers threw huge quantity of tomatoes on the national highway in protest as there was no cold storage," he further said

Jujumura tehsildar, Rajesh Agrawalla, who was present at the flagging off ceremony, said the initiative will benefit poor farmers at the grass-root level.