Farmers could lose over Rs 145 bn this rabi due to low prices: activists

Prevailing average prices of most crops surveyed are Rs 200 to Rs 600 lower than state-fixed MSP

Farmers stand to lose around Rs 145 billion this rabi season as market prices of major crops, excluding wheat and rice, have dropped below the state-mandated Minimum Support Price (MSP) in most parts of country, a ground assessment of 14 major mandis of the country showed.

The assessment was done by a team of farm activists lead by Swaraj Abhiyan President, Yogendra Yadav, based on the expected marketable surplus, as arrivals are still on in several places.

The crops which have been considered for this include gram, groundnut, mustard, masoor, rabi maize and barley.

In most of these crops, the prevailing average prices are Rs 200 to Rs 600 lower than the state-fixed MSP.

“In each of these locations, the team visited the Mandi and interacted with farmers, traders and mandi officials. We also visited the closest procurement centres, wherever operational. The data cited was obtained from local mandi officials and the Agmarknet website,” Swaraj Abhiyan said in a statement released today.

It said that in none of the mandis their team visited were farmers able to sell their produce at MSP, as prices have crashed sharply. In the case of chana and mustard, the team found prices had crashed over 20 per cent due to bumper harvest.

Also, in most places, the Centre or state’s own procurement operations were not visible on the ground and there was an urgent need for market intervention and effective procurement at the earliest to prevent a crisis.

The farmer leaders also demanded that growers should be able to sell their entire crop at the MSP rate, and the government should take all steps to ensure this happens, while there should be quantitative restrictions based on the upper end of expected yield for each district.

The paperwork required by farmers for ensuring their produce gets purchased by state agencies should be streamlined, while procurement should start on time and enforced stringently to avoid distress sales.

The leaders also demanded that moisture meters used by procurement agencies and private traders be properly calibrated and verified, while all payments to farmers be made within 48 hours of the process getting completed.

“Also, in case of wheat, states could start declaring bonus over the MSP to help farmers,” the leaders said.

Meanwhile, in a related development, the Madhya Pradesh government, which recently announced a bonus of over Rs 200 a quintal for wheat and extended the benefits of ‘Bhawaantar Bhugtan Yojana’ for onion and garlic farmers, has now decided to directly procure gram and mustard to stop distress sale.