CHENNAI: Price rise has never benefited people toiling in fields and middlemen always make the best out of such a scenario, exploiting farmers’ difficulty in paying various different charges and their inability to bargain with traders for a better price.
P Senthil Kumar, a shallot farmer from Narasingapuram in Tiruchy, said, “Even if prices skyrocket to Rs 120 a kg in cities, a trader would offer only between Rs 40 and Rs 80 a kg. I cannot spend on loading, unloading, cleaning and transportation charges and after that, bargain with ‘mandis’ that dictate prices.
So, I would end up selling my produce to middlemen and they, in turn, make huge profits selling the vegetable at a much higher price. There have been times when middlemen did not even measure my produce and fixed the price based on crops per acre. Farmers will benefit if the government announces minimum support price for horticulture crops.”
Similar views were echoed by CM Perumal, a tomato farmer from Ethakinaru village in Krishnagiri. “The government should fix MSP for tomatoes and help farmers with transportation, which is a major hindrance for us to get better prices,” he said.
There is no control in the agricultural market and middlemen are controlling it, said Prof. A Narayanamoorthi, agri-economic researcher and former member of the Commission for agriculture cost and Prices (CACP), which sets MSPs in the country.
“There is no structured pattern on procurement schemes for pulses, oil seeds and horticulture crops. However, the market intervention scheme (MIS), which ensures that farmers are not forced to make distress sales, will be more practical to implement for horticulture crops than MSP. States producing the majority of a particular crop have to implement MIS during a price crash.
Maharashtra has purchased onions from the market on numerous occasions. West Bengal has implemented MIS for potatoes and states like Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have intervened on a few occasions. Tamil Nadu government can implement a similar scheme for tomatoes, onion and potatoes, which often witness price fluctuation,” Narayanamoorthi said.
A farmer household’s annual income from cultivation is pathetically low in states like Tamil Nadu due to the high cost of cultivation. Gaps in tank and canal irrigation, shrinking total area under irrigation and higher farm wages are contributing factors, he said.
An official from the state horticulture department, on condition of anonymity, said the government can procure products from farmers and sell them to consumers, like the Horticultural Producers’ Cooperative Marketing and Processing Society in Karnataka.
In response to TNIE’s query, Tamil Nadu Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department said the net area irrigated has gone up from 28.87 lakh ha in 2000-2001 to 29.29 lakh ha in 2021-22 and the government has taken consistent efforts to restore tanks, desilt canals and channels under Anaithu Grama Anna Marumalarchi Thittam.
As regards a farm household’s income, Secretary C Samayamoorthi told TNIE, “The government is taking steps like providing market access through regulated markets integrated with eNAM platform for remunerative price. Farmers producers organisations (FPOs) are encouraged to do value addition and collective marketing of produce.”
While TNIE has, in the past, highlighted that more farmers are selling their produce through the online regulated marketplace eNAM owing to better prices, commodities sold are limited to mostly paddy and copra, and inter-mandi and inter-state trade is largely restricted. Farmers have also said that the functioning of Uzhavar Sandhai (direct farm-to-market sale) is restricted only for a few hours and is inaccessible for many farmers compared to middlemen who collect the produce from the farm.
(With inputs from Sivaguru S @ Krishnagiri)