Kisan Mandi to open direct selling window for farmers in Delhi

Market to help farmers directly reach wholesalers and retailers

Deepak Sharma, a third-generation farmer in Jammu, will no longer have to pay steep commissions when he next visits Delhi to sell his produce, thanks to the new market in Alipur here.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Thursday laid the foundation stone of the Kisan Mandi in Alipur village for farmers like Sharma to sell fruit and vegetables directly to wholesalers and retail chains.

"There is not much opportunity for us in Jammu. So we have to come to Delhi to market our produce. But selling in Azadpur mandi is cumbersome. This scheme gives us an opportunity for direct marketing," said Sharma, also the director of Jammu Oriental Fresh Farmers Producers Company that sources produce from 3,000 farmers.

Located 13 km from the Azadpur Mandi, Asia's biggest wholesale fruit and vegetable market, the Kisan Mandi will be spread over 1.6 acres. Compared to this, the Azadpur Mandi is on almost 75 acres. "There is always a middleman between a farmer and a consumer. Through this initiative, this will end," Singh said.

The farmers' market will act as the first platform for growers' associations registered under the Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium to sell fruit and vegetables to organised retailers, hotels, restaurants, large vendors, exporters, processors and the general public in Delhi. The move will benefit around 300 associations promoted by the Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium and 500,000 farmers.

"The farmer will store his produce in a collection centre. A sample will be sent to this mandi and after a consumer decides to purchase, vegetables and fruit will be supplied from a village store," said Pravesh Sharma, managing director of the Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium. Sharma said cutting out the middleman would help farmers earn 20-25 per cent more and buyers can purchase fruit and vegetables 15-20 per cent cheaper.

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung recently delisted fruits and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in the national capital. This move allows a farmer to sell his produce to wholesale markets outside mandis. Earlier, farmers could only sell fruits and vegetables through licensed traders at 6-7 per cent commission to agents.

Anurag Agarwal, co-founder of Parvata Foods, a Calcutta-based growers' association, deals in organic food but struggles to find business because of poor market links in Sikkim and Odisha. "The Kisan Mandi will facilitate a smooth supply chain and lead to more transparency," said Agarwal, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

The Delhi Kisan Mandi will offer cold storage and logistics handling and will organise promotions. According to an estimate, the national capital receives 11,000-13,000 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables daily and accounts for Rs 6,000-7,000 crore of business in a year.