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The Maharashtra government, in a serious bid to put in place a permanent mechanism, will conduct market survey and intelligence gathering for agricultural produce.
As a beginning, the state-run Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies will soon enter into an agreement to carry out such survey and gather intelligence for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and recommend steps to strengthen supply chain.
The government's initiative comes close on the heels of recent sudden spurt in vegetable prices and lack of adequate supply in Mumbai and other cities in the state. This will also help the producer to do proper crop planning and organize its supplies to various centres.
Maharashtra agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil told Business Standard, "The government is laying emphasis on improvement of supply chain. This will be possible if there is a proper intelligence and survey of markets. Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board and Narsee Munjee Institute of Management Studies will soon sign deal for this exercise in MMR. They will submit a report on the restructuring of the present mechanism and the synergy to be established in different segments."
The minister said the state government is not at all in the business of sale of agricultural produce including vegetables but it will facilitate necessary supply network.
Vikhe-Patil said the objective is to remove the middleman and the direct marketing chain is controlled by farmers. The survey of grass root logistics will come quite handy.
"Agriculture department is preparing a full database of plantations in various regions, sowing area under cultivation. Besides, the information is being gathered on farm produce not produced in Maharashtra but procured from outside the state," Vikhe-Patil said.
The minister hoped that this initiative will help improve sourcing of agricultural produce directly from the producer by various direct marketing agencies and supply them at the fair price. The minister admitted that the supply chain needs to be further upgraded so that watage is avoided and at the same time the producer will get the proper price.
According to the minister, over 100 fair price centres have been so far opened across MMR for the supply of vegetables and more such will soon be opened in Pune and around. Vikhe-Patil informed that malls and departmental stores have also started supply of vegetables at fair price by directly procuring it from the producers.
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| Vegetable | Market Rate | Govt prescribes rate for July 29 (in Rs) |
| Onion | 35 | 30 |
| Potato | 20 | 15 |
| Tomatoes | 40 | 36 |
| Source: Government list | ||
