The market for potatoes has witnessed a glut in several states for sometime. But this is not an isolated incident of distress sale by framers. Sometime back tomatoes and chillies had grabbed headlines for similar reasons. In fact, for most farm produce, a sharp price decline in the wake of good production is the rule. Similarly, prices rise sharply following a shortfall.
Although, incidence of price fluctuations are more common in the case of perishable items like vegetables and fruits, they are not the only commodities that suffer this fate. Very often, other farm produce, including commercial crops like sugarcane and cotton, face similar problems. At times, even foodgrains like wheat and rice go through a similar crisis.
The Union government has reacted promptly to the current potato glut and has asked the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed) to intervene in the market. However, Nafed has very limited scope of operation, for it is confined to only five states viz, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. While potato production has been good in several other states as well, as a result prices have dropped below the remunerative level.
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During a recent visit to Punjab, I observed an anguished potato farmer sitting on top of his pile of potatoes on the mandi floor. On enquiring, why he was guarding his produce so fervently and if he was not expecting a fair return, he replied, that he was warding off other potato growers from dumping their produce onto his heap. His reply was a telling comment on the helplessness of the potato growers.
Potato is a cost-intensive crop. The seed alone accounts for over half of the total cost of production. Digging up the vegetable on maturity is also a labour-intensive job and, hence, a costly operation. Therefore, in case of over-production, farmers fail to recover even the cost of seed and harvesting, let alone making a profit.
Two broad conclusions can be drawn from the above:
Post-harvest crop management, including marketing, is one of the weakest areas in the farm sector;
Despite all the development in the agricultural sector, the country is still incapable of coping with even marginal surpluses or deficits. A mere five per cent departure from normal production can create immense management problems, thereby, playing havoc with the price line.
Therefore, the entire agricultural marketing network needs to be revamped. Besides, post-harvest management facilities like cold storages and processing infrastructure also needs to be put in place. All these aspects have been neglected in the past due to an overwhelming stress on raising farm production. While this could have been justified in the initial phases of agricultural renaissance, the emph- asis must change steadily, and give way to other equally important aspects.
It is also clear that an increase in production cannot be sustained without adequate infrastructure for post-harvest handling of the produce. Policy makers should realise this lacunae quickly or else the overall health of the agricultural sector would be at stake.
Hybrid alternative
Safflower oil, is fast gaining popularity as a cooking medium among the urban population, because of its low cholesterol properties, which keeps heart ailments under control. It is also believed to contain linolic acid, an essential fatty acid needed by the body.
India is the worlds largest producer of safflower seed. However, the price of the oil has tended to remain high. One of the main reasons for this is, that the commercial cultivation of Safflower oilseed have not expanded fast enough due to the yield barrier of the available crop varieties.
However, this problem has now been overcome. Two hybrid varieties capable of out-yielding the present ones by about 20 per cent in terms of seed production and 30 per cent in terms of oil output have been developed.
This development assumes significance because safflower joins the select list of crops in which India is the world leader in hybrid technology. This includes: cotton, castor, sorghum, pearlmillet and pigeonpea.
The two safflower hybrids have been named DSH-129 and MKH-11. While DSH-129 has been developed by the Hyderabad-based Directorate of Oilseeds Research, the latter is the product of the private sector, Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company.
During the all-India crop production trials, the two varieties have maintained their superiority over the existing A-1 variety, for three consecutive years. They recorded a yield advantage of about 22 per cent and oil content of about 30 to 33 per cent.
Both the hybrids are relatively more tolerant to fusarium wilt, a dreaded disease of safflower which causes stunting of plants besides resulting in yellowing and consequential death of leaves. They are also moderately resistant to the other major disease that effect this crop, Alternaria leaf spot, characterised by irregular shaped brownish spots on leaves and, at times, on the flowers and stems.
The best thing about the new variety is their ability to adapt to rainfed tracts where oilseed crops are predominantly grown.
It is clear that an increase in production cannot be sustained without adequate infrastructure for post-harvest handling of the produce.