INDORE: Garlic, which was listed in the “one crop one district” scheme for Mandsaur and Ratlam districts is selling in local mandis at the bargain price of Rs 45-50 a quintal out of the box farmers in difficulty.
Farmers in both districts have launched protests over the low price of their crop and called for a “minimum support price” for garlic, noting that it was included in the BJP-led state government’s “Bhavantar Bhugtan Scheme” in 2018. -19 but was interrupted, leaving farmers at the mercy of the market supply and demand formula. The crisis arose due to exceptional production, the sources say. According to the Bhavantar scheme, if the market price of the listed crops was below the modal rate set by the government, the government paid the farmers the difference. It was intended to cushion farmers from falling prices. According to senior horticulture officials, the Bhavantar rate for garlic in 2018-19 was 800 Rs / q.
The meager garlic prices this year are already sparking unrest. Farmers say it won’t even cover their input costs. Angry farmers staged a protest in Ratlam on Saturday, closed the gates of a Krishi Mandi on Mhow Road.
“Set the tariffs for garlic under Bhavantar at Rs 4 k / qal”
Protesting farmers stopped the auction as they were enraged by the rates offered, starting at Rs 50-Rs 500 per quintal. Farmers claimed to have incurred a cost of Rs 2,500 per quintal of production. A similar protest was held in Sailana bus stop where farmers performed a “death procession” of the garlic harvest. “We are offered prices from Rs 45 to Rs 250 per quintal.
We want the state government to set the price of garlic at 4,000 rupees per quintal according to the Bhavantar scheme, ”said one of the agitated farmers. In Mandsaur, garlic growers had the same demand even though garlic was sold at slightly better prices here: a minimum of Rs 100 / q. Some farmers even received up to Rs 6,665 / ql for an excellent quality (grade A) crop. Farmer based in Mandsaur and national vice president of the supported BJP Kisan MorchaBansilal Gurjar said: “There is an exceptional production of garlic – nearly double the demand in local and international markets – in Dewas, Narmadapuram and some other districts as farmers have sown it on a large scale.
This is why the rate is as low as Rs 50-100 / q. He suggested that proper planning based on statewide records Raqba (areas) of the crop, estimating its expected production and comparing it with the expected demand would help to a great extent to solve the problem. State Minister for Horticulture and Food Processing Bharat Singh Kushwaha agreed with the council. “If the demand is 100 quintals while the production is 1,000 quintals, then the rate will naturally drop,” the minister told TOI, adding that the government has started the “Girdavari” (estimated sowing) of horticultural crops. The government is also granting crop storage subsidies, Kushwaha said. Protesting farmers stopped the auction because they were enraged by the rates offered – starting at Rs 50-Rs 500 per quintal. Farmers claimed to have incurred a cost of Rs 2,500 per quintal of production. A similar protest was held at the Sailana bus stop, where farmers performed a “death procession” of the garlic harvest.
“We are offered prices from Rs 45 to Rs 250 per quintal. We want the state government to set the price of garlic at 4,000 rupees per quintal according to the Bhavantar scheme, ”said one of the agitated farmers. In Mandsaur, garlic growers had the same demand even though garlic was sold at slightly better prices here: a minimum of Rs 100 / q. Some farmers even received up to Rs 6,665 / ql for an excellent quality (grade A) crop. Bansilal Gurjar, a farmer based in Mandsaur and national vice president of Kisan Morcha, supported by the BJP, said: “There is an exceptional production of garlic – almost double the demand in local and international markets – in Dewas, Narmadapuram and some other districts while farmers were sowing it on a large scale. This is why the rate is as low as Rs 50-100 / q. state, to estimate its projected production and compare it with forecast demand, would help solve the problem to a large extent.
State Minister for Horticulture and Food Processing Bharat Singh Kushwaha agreed with the council. “If the demand is 100 quintals while the production is 1,000 quintals, then the rate will naturally drop,” the minister told TOI, adding that the government has started the “Girdavari” (estimated sowing) of horticultural crops. The government is also providing subsidies for crop storage, Kushwaha said.
FacebookTwitterInstagramKOO APPYOUTUBE
