THANE: A first-of-its-kind all women farmers and traders initiative was recently flagged-off in the city with over 500kg farm fresh produce being sold in a matter of few hours. The all woman farmer's market will be held every Friday at the Uma Neelkanth Vyamshala near Bhaskar colony Launched by the agriculture and marketing department, the first all women farmers belong to Mohol taluka in Solapur district and came to Thane to be part of the first women farmer outreach initiative in the state, informed BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar The women participants supported by their husbands and male colleagues were visibly delighted by the response as local residents swarmed to the venue netting in nearly Rs 17,000 sale on the inaugural day itself. Even as the inaugural event witnessed few women cultivators and members of self help group participating with their male counterparts, the organizers said they were confident that the response would now encourage more female farmers to be part of thise initiative."Several single women cultivators would soon be part of thise initiative which could help them not just earn a decent income for their efforts but also motivate others to be part of this initiative and be empowered. We are confident of getting more women cultivators to be part of this initiative in the coming weeks the response to this first market is encouraging," said one of the coordinators while speaking to TOI.Meanwhile, Thane residents said they were happy they could be help to empower women from the rural areas of the state. "This would be a small step from our part to help these women stand on their feet and encourage others to get empowered. We are looking forward to more women farmers coming to sell their crop here," said a local from Bhaskar Colony.

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