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Business News/ Industry / Agriculture/  Farmers in Delhi Kisan Mandi to sell farm produce directly to consumers
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Farmers in Delhi Kisan Mandi to sell farm produce directly to consumers

Fruits and vegetables will be sold via an electronic platform to wholesalers, hotels, caterers, retail chains and resident welfare associations

The market at Alipur village in Narela in north Delhi is expected to benefit both farmers and consumers by cutting down on the chain of middlemen, which has led to price build-up from the farm gate. Photo: Sneha Srivastava/Mint Premium
The market at Alipur village in Narela in north Delhi is expected to benefit both farmers and consumers by cutting down on the chain of middlemen, which has led to price build-up from the farm gate. Photo: Sneha Srivastava/Mint

New Delhi: The Small Farmer’s Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), an agency under the agriculture ministry, is launching a first-of-its-kind Kisan Mandi in Delhi.

The market at Alipur village in Narela in north Delhi is expected to benefit both farmers and consumers by cutting down on the chain of middlemen, which has led to price build-up from the farm gate.

The initiative, expected to be operational within six months, will be different from traditional wholesale markets.

Fruits and vegetables will be sold via an electronic platform to wholesalers, hotels, caterers, retail chains and resident welfare associations.

This is expected to not only bring down the retail prices but also benefit farmers, who will earn 20-25% more by selling directly to buyers, said officials.

In India, Delhi is one of the largest arrival points of fruits and vegetables—at over 45 million tonnes (mt) a year—of which 70% is consumed in the National Capital Region. At present, Delhi receives between 11,000 and 13,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables daily at the registered wholesale markets in Azadpur, Keshopur and Shahadra.

On 2 September, Delhi was one of the first states to delist fruits and vegetables from the registered agricultural produce marketing committee in a bid to allow other markets to develop and help rein in vegetable prices.

The Kisan Mandi, set up after the de-listing, will tap into farmer producer organizations and growers’ associations from across the country who will be allotted stalls, dry and cold storage facilities to showcase samples of their farm produce and meet prospective buyers.

SFAC has helped create over 600 producers’ groups across the country till 31 August, of which 229 have been registered under the companies law.

“From the farm gate to the consumer, there is a price build-up of up to 2.5 times due to the presence of several intermediaries. The Kisan Mandi will reduce the number of middlemen and give better margins to farmers, and offer the produce to consumers at around 15-20% lower price. Grading and sorting will be done at the village level and the produce need not travel all the way to the mandi—this will reduce wastage," said Pravesh Sharma, managing director of SFAC. “... In future, we also plan to facilitate contract farming arrangements via the Kisan Mandi platform."

The Kisan Mandi in Delhi will be different from farmers’ markets in other parts of the country, called rythu bazaars in Andhra Pradesh and uzavar santhai in Tamil Nadu. Farmers travel to these markets to sell their produce directly to consumers.

Speaking at the launch, agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh said Kisan Mandi is a step towards creating a national market for agricultural produce as promised in the first budget presented by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

“By setting up collection centres at the farm gate and cold chain, we are trying to check wastage of fruits and vegetables which are around 20% now," he said.

Traders at Azadpur mandi, the largest wholesale market in the area, are unfazed.

“Prices of agricultural commodities are determined on basis of arrival at the mandi and it’s demand. We are being unfairly blamed for rising prices. Azadpur receives produce from all over the country. We sell on credit to buyers and give advance to farmers. Newer markets will not be able to replace the volume of this market," said Mahinder Kumar, a trader and member of the Azadpur mandi.

For now, the Kisan Mandi’s target is modest. To begin with, it is looking at marketing 300 tonnes of fruits and vegetables every day, said Sharma.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sayantan Bera
Sayantan is a National Writer with the Long Story team at Mint, covering food and nutrition, agriculture, and rural economy. His reportage is based on granular ground reports, tying it with broader macroeconomic realities, with a sharp focus on people and livelihoods. Beyond rural issues, Sayantan has written deep dives on topics spanning healthcare, gender, education, and science.
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Published: 27 Sep 2014, 12:53 AM IST
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