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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Farmers suffer as middlemen call the shots by Manu Aiyappa

Farmers suffer as middlemen call the shots by Manu Aiyappa

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published Published on Dec 23, 2010   modified Modified on Dec 23, 2010

Be it a bumper or lean season __ life for Karnataka's farmers remains unchanged as they are exploited by middlemen.

While last week came as a boon to onion farmers as prices skyrocketed in an unprecedented manner, it all came to an end on Wednesday following the government's decision to stop exports until January 15 to contain the rates here, resulting in a sudden drop in per quintal rates and sending waves of panic among farmers.

Though the spiralling trend is being attributed to the shortage of onions following crop devastation in North Karnataka region causedby the recent untimely rains, those in the business say such problems usually arise when the state procurement agencies, in nexus with middlemen, create an artificial price crash to exploit growers.

"Farmers suffer at various stages. In APMCs, the middlemen decide the price and take a commission. Farmers are not permitted to sell their produce directly to traders," said Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader K S Puttanaiah.

The modus operandi is quite simple: many middlemen lend money to farmers in the form of advance for the crop. They enter into an unwritten agreement which stipulates that they sell the produce to them. They are also forced to bear incidental expenses like transport, loading and unloading.

"The nature of the crop too favours them. It should be moved to the APMC after harvest or else it tends to lose shape and size __ the basis of which traders fix the price," said K Kempe Gowda, head of horticulture department at University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

A progressive farmer who grows the crop on 12 acres in Kundagol of Dharwad district said they suffer much due to absence of storage facilities and marketing avenues, and they are forced to sell their products to middlemen at a lesser price.

Regulating the arrival of onions and garlic to the market could have prevented the downslide, claimed farmer leaders. As against the normal 50 to 60 trucks, over 100 trucks __ including those farmers from neighbouring Maharashtra __ had been reaching the APMC market during the past one week, obviously inspired by the spiralling price of onions across the country. In fact, some farmers harvested the crop prematurely and rushed it to the market only to be rejected there. "They resort to strike when they are told that the quality of their produce is not up to the mark and they have to buy them at low prices," horticulture department officials said.

This abnormal situation of recurrent gluts, price crashes and price spirals for vegetable crops, particularly onions, calls for a package of measures to be adopted by the government, said some scientists involved in the research of vegetable crops at the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research.

"It is the duty of APMC authorities to keep a tab on them so that the requirement is properly estimated and arrangements are made in advance. As farmers do not understand the economics involved, as the market depends on the demand and supply theory, they should set up an independent agency at hobli levels to advise them on these matters," suggested experts.


The Times of India, 23 December, 2010, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Farmers-suffer-as-middlemen-call-the-shots/articleshow/7147673.cms


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