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For 70-year-old Trilokchand Sharma, one of the biggest onion and potato traders in Azadpur mandi here, life hasn’t changed much since Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung delisted fruit and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in the national capital. Sharma says since September 3, when the delisting notification was issued, neither have arrivals of fruit and vegetables changed, nor have their prices fallen.
In fact, data from the Department of Consumer Affairs show, excluding onion, wholesale prices of vegetables in mandis here have risen since the notification was issued.
“Earlier, there was a rule that all fruit and vegetables would be sold in Delhi alone, through regulated markets (mandis). But at that time, too, we had small mandis such as those in Daryaganj and Narela, where farmers sold without paying any commission charge....I don’t know what this new order will change,” Sharma said, dismissing the notification as another ploy by the government to harass traders.
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On an average, 90-100 truckloads of potatoes are brought to the Azadpur mandi from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh every day (each truck carries 12-14 tonnes). This has remained unchanged in the past few days.
“It must be remembered in Azadpur mandi, 90 per cent of the sale-purchase is done on credit, not cash. And, we have very strict rules to enforce payments to farmers. Now, if farmers sell outside the mandi premises, no one can guarantee their interests will be protected,” said a trader.
It seems the government isn’t quite sure of the implications of the de-listing notification, says Raj Kumar Bhatia, general secretary, Chamber of the Azadpur Fruit and Vegetable Traders. “As far as my understanding goes, the notification opens the door to the establishment of new mandis outside the Azadpur APMC area,” he said. In case of Azadpur, the APMC area extends up to the banks of river Yamuna, a distance of 10-15 km.
Metharam Krapalani, a leading apple trader at the Azadpur mandi, said due to the government’s move, new mandis might come up not only within the Azadpur APMC yard, but also in areas surrounding the APMCs of the Keshopur and Shahdara areas here. “This is nothing but a government ploy to facilitate opening of private mandis; in the long run, this will benefit big multinational retail chains,” Krapalani said.
Following the delisting of fruit and vegetables from the APMC Act, the jurisdiction of the Azadpur mandi, along with those of the mandis in Keshopur and Shadipur, will be confined to their premises. Many traders say this will facilitate direct purchases by big retailers and promote the growth of private mandis, allowing big multinational retailers a backdoor entry into India’s farm marketing segment.
Krapalani added instead of complicating an already complex situation, the government could have exempted the seven-eight per cent commission for farmers who wanted to sell their produce directly at Azadpur mandi.
“In any fight against inflation, we are always the fall guys; we are painted as those who raise the prices of fruit and vegetables in the country. But actually, prices are a function of demand and supply, which is reflected at mandis,” said Raj Kumar Bhatia.
Terming wholesalers and traders as service providers, Bhatia said if farmers brought their produce and started selling it on roadsides, it would lead to unscrupulous trade and create a problem of storage, as everything procured couldn’t be sold on the same day. “Azadpur usually gets about 2,500 trucks of fruit and vegetables every day. Since the government notified the delisting and allowed the opening of new mandis, there hasn’t been even a minute drop in supplies, except due to rains in Jammu & Kashmir,” Bhatia said.
Safal, an arm of Mother Dairy and one of the biggest organised retail fruit and vegetable chains in the national capital, feels the delisting will lead to a fall of only 0.4-0.5 per cent in prices at the level of the end-consumer. “For Delhi, we usually, we purchase about 300 tonnes of fruit and vegetables daily. Of this, 10-15 per cent is from organised markets. After the order, a one per cent commission charged from us will be waived,” said a senior Safal official.
The retail chain runs 400-odd shops across the national capital.
Nathuram Gotwal, a 50-year-old onion farmer in Jhajorbhas village (close to the Delhi-Rajasthan border), says he wants to sell his produce directly to consumers. “But the system in villages is so well entrenched that it will take years for any significant change to be seen,” he says.
