Given the mass exodus of labourers due to the nationwide lockdown, farmers of Punjab and Haryana are exploring the option of 'off-market' sale or what they call it as 'sell-from-farm'. For its part, the Maharashtra Government has asked farmers to form groups to sell vegetables and other essential items directly to consumers during the lockdown and to allow farmers to ferry the produce. Presently, 1,600- 1,800 wholesale mandis have started functioning partially and fully despite the shortage of labourers. There are 6,900 mandis in the country.
Farmers across the country are in panic because the ripening fruits and vegetables will rot because mandi operations have almost stopped, and labour cannot reach farms due to transport bottlenecks. Marketing of produce is now becoming a challenge for the farmers. Officials of Haryana Agriculture Department said that farmers who usually sell their crops through an established supply chain that was set up by the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee’s (APMCs) have adopted a method to avoid market yards and sell their produces from their doorstep. Several farmers have started to sell their products from the farm and started supplying through their tractors.
According to farmers, losses will mount because it is harvest time for grapes, watermelons, bananas, muskmelon, chana, cotton, chillies, turmeric, jeera, coriander, onion and potato. Farmers are more concern about dispose of their vegetables and fruits that is perishable.
Yudhvir Singh of Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, claimed that most of the APMCs are closed at all major markets. “There are restrictions regarding the movement also. So in a scenario like this, the farmers have no option but to sit at home with their produce lying on the field. Therefore, more and more farmers are now resorting to this mode of trade because they need money immediately so that by March end, they can repay their loan obligations," Singh added.
Binod Pandey of All India Kisan Mahasanghthan said that at a time when APMCs are closed and supply chains are disrupted, the off-market sales model may rescue many farmers, who are often found off-guard and are vulnerable in times of natural calamities or market-driven fluctuations. “Therefore, more and more farmers are now resorting to this mode of trade because they need money immediately so that by March end, they can repay their loan obligations”, Pandey added.
Officials of agriculture ministry said that in Haryana, most of the APMCs have been closed. Some of them are opened but facing uphill tasks due to shortage of labourers.
In Gujarat, There was confusions as grain APMCs has been told to open markets on Thursday, but on Friday said that they had spoken to farmers and traders, with all of them having agreed to resume on April 2. In Mumbai, several restrictions have been imposed on mandis to avoid gatherings. However, most mandis dealing in essentials have started functioning. Grain market, vegetables, onion-potato all have resumed operations with staggered timing for loading, unloading and traders. According to officials of Ministry of Agriculture, over 2,000 wholesale mandis have started functioning after the nationwide lockdown across the country. In Azadpur mandi, which is Asia’s largest subzi mandi also are opened. There is no shortage of vegetables and fruits but there is no labour. Several trucks of farmers come to Azadpur on Saturday.
The agriculture ministry says there is no scarcity of vegetables and fruits in mandis.The grain mandis get activated during the time of harvest. Right now, the focus is on vegetable and fruit mandis. To normalise supply in major cities, the Centre has asked Mother Dairy's Safal vegetable outlets in Delhi, Sufal Bangla retail outlets in Kolkata, Hopcoms retail outlets in Bengaluru and similar outlets in Chennai and Mumbai to monitor movement of supplies and coordinate with local administration.
