Even as farmers and their regular buyers are finding it difficult to push their perishable goods to the market due to lack of adequate prices, a school teacher has been a saving grace for many.

S Rangaswamy, a lower primary school teacher, has been procuring vegetables from the farmers at nominal prices and distributing them to the needy people in the town and also in remote places from the past one week. “Something is better than nothing,” say farmers.

He, along with his two sons, carrier auto rickshaw driver Abhishek Kuppalli and farmer Rangaswamy Shivanna recently procured over three tonnes of pumpkins that were perishing at a farm at Chikkonahalli and distributed them to as many as 1,300 residents. "I used to send them to the market and from there, traders would transport them to faraway places like Mysuru. But now, due to lockdown, I have become helpless. That was when the teacher approached me. It is better to have my produce distributed among the needy people instead of them rotting away," remarks farmer Prasanna Kumar.

Meanwhile, some of the traders have also contributed to the initiative. Mujahid Baig donated his procurement of cucumbers, bottle gourds and cabbage to the teacher to be distributed. The teacher with over 26 years of experience, Rangaswamy claims that he has been contributing twenty per cent of his salary towards procurement and transportation of veggies. "Tahsildar Shivamurthy has helped us with passes for two luggage carriers. We will continue to procure perishable goods on the farm and distribute them to the needy. A woman offered us lemon juice as she did not want to take the pumpkin free of cost," he explained.

"My wife is also a teacher and we have made up our mind to contribute to the society. Meanwhile, my two sons studying in class IX and II PUC have also joined me and have been getting a lifetime's experience," he says. “In fact, different types of vegetables grown across the taluk including tomatoes on 80 acres remain unharvested and Horticulture Minister Narayana Gowda, who represents KR Pete, should take initiative to procure it with reasonable price,” urged a farmer.