Karnataka will expand its Raita Siri Marts from Bengaluru to district headquarters as part of a government-backed effort to create a direct marketplace between farmer-producer organisations and consumers, Agriculture Minister P.M. Narendra Swamy said at the inauguration of the first outlet in Malleshwaram.
The minister said the retail initiative was designed to reduce the role of intermediaries while giving farmers a dedicated channel to sell their products. Consumers, he said, would also receive quality goods at lower prices. The first Raita Siri Mart has been established on a pilot basis in Bengaluru by the State Farmers’ Producer Organisations Cooperative Society.
Karnataka has 160 farmer-producer organisations, according to the minister. The new retail network is intended to provide these organisations with market access while creating a source of revenue for the cooperative society. The government plans to open 10 marts in Bengaluru initially, with expansion to other locations linked to the performance and profitability of the outlets.
The proposed district-level expansion would place the marts closer to urban consumers outside Bengaluru. The announcement did not specify the locations of the next outlets, the implementation schedule, the product list or the investment required for the statewide rollout. It also did not provide details on how procurement, pricing, storage and distribution would be organised across the proposed network.
The initiative is aimed at addressing a long-standing gap between farm production and urban retail: farmer-producer organisations may aggregate output, but they still require reliable outlets and customer access to sell at scale. By establishing dedicated stores, the cooperative society is seeking to connect producer groups directly with city markets rather than relying exclusively on conventional wholesale and retail channels.
The minister said online promotion and sales would also be introduced for the marts. Social media platforms would be used to publicise the outlets and their products, adding a digital sales and outreach component to the physical retail model.
He also said the marts could support farmers during drought conditions by helping them access markets. The statement did not specify whether the network would include any special procurement or price-support mechanism during droughts.
The rollout will therefore depend on how quickly the initial Bengaluru outlets are opened, whether the pilot generates sustainable margins and how effectively the proposed district stores connect farmer-producer organisations with regular urban demand. Upendra Pratap Singh, commissioner of the Watershed Development Department, attended the inauguration. The government’s next stated step is to begin with 10 marts in Bengaluru before extending the model to other districts.
