No middlemen, yet farmers still sell produce below MSP

NEW DELHI: The lockdown has prompted states to allow farmers to sell their produce directly without any intermediation of mandis, but they are not getting the desired price for their produce, officials said.
“Direct marketing initiatives have helped the government decongest mandis, but farmers are selling their produce below minimum support price (MSP),” said an agriculture department official. However, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar maintained that farmers are getting fair prices. “We have increased the procurement centres by 50% from 14,838 centres to help farmers get MSP for their produce. Not only wheat, we are also striving to help them get floor prices for chana, oilseeds and other pulses,” he said.

Farmers in states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Himachal Pradesh are selling their produce directly through farmer producer organisations and cooperatives to bulk buyers and big retailers.

“Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Uttrakhand have declared accredited warehouses and cold storage as market yards,” the official said. Ravinder Singh Chaudhary, a farmer leader, said in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, where there is no assured procurement of entire crop, farmers have to sell produce at ?1,600-1,800 per quintal. “Since traders are loading harvest right from the farm gate, farmers are selling 10-15% lower than the MSP.” In Punjab and Haryana, where the government buys the entire crop, price is not the issue. Farmers are forced to sell their produce in limited quantity to avoid crowding of mandis.