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Haryana potato growers suffer as wholesale prices fall below ₹3 per kg
Kurukshetra’s potato grower Gurpreet’s bumper harvest has turned into a nightmare as he is struggling to even recover the input cost of his produce
Kurukshetra’s potato grower Gurpreet’s bumper harvest has turned into a nightmare as he is struggling to even recover the input cost of his produce.
Gurpreet, a resident of Shahbad, said his produce from 11 acres has earned him an average ₹35,000 per acre ( ₹3 per kg) in mandi against ₹40,000 per acre he spent to raise the crop since November last year.
According to the farmers, Pipli is the biggest potato mandi in the state and farmers from Haryana and Punjab sell their produce here but due to the fall in the prices, thousands of potato growers associated with this mandi are suffering losses. Farmers and arhtiyas blame poor marketing system and lack of a method to fix the prices of vegetables as the buyers have all the rights to fix the price depending upon the demand.
The traders say that the bumper produce in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is a key factor behind the fall in the prices.
Though, there are a large number of traders, who purchase potatoes in open auctions directly from farmers, here too the bid had not gone above ₹4 per kg.
“We do not know why the prices have declined to this level. The buyers say that there is no demand, but if there is no demand why they are purchasing and where will they take it,” asked a distressed farmer Sube Singh of Kheri markanda village of Kurukshetra, who earned only ₹89,000 from his three acres against ₹1.20 lakh of input cost. His produce was sold at ₹2.5 per kg.
Moreover, the farmers who take land on lease are the biggest loser as they had to pay ₹25,000 per acre additional to the owner of the land besides the production input cost of around ₹40,000.
Labourers earn more than arhtiyas
Even, the commission agents of this potato mandi are also bearing the brunt as their earnings have also declined due to poor prices.
“Our earnings depend upon the earnings of farmers. We get a 4% commission on the earnings of farmers. But since the farmers are getting only ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 per acre our earnings have declined drastically,” said an arhtiya Subhadh Wadhwa. Wadhwa said an arhtiya is earning ₹4 per quintal while labourers are getting ₹10 per quintal.
Another arhtiya Raj Kumar said that the earnings are not enough to even meet the expenses of the shop, staff, fuel, tea and electricity.
Bhavantar Bharpai: Too little too late
Even the Haryana government had announced the ‘Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana’ to compensate the vegetable growers if the prices fall below a certain limit. But the farmers said that the rates fixed under the scheme are not sufficient. As per the scheme the base price of ₹6 per kg, fixed by the government, does not even cover the production cost. Farmers said the base should be increased to ₹10 per kg. Also, the farmers said that they have to wait for a year to get the margin money. “Nearly two years after but I could not get the relief of ₹35,000 under the Bhavantar Bharpai Scheme to compensate for the losses suffered due to the fall in prices in 2021,” said a farmer Darshan Lal of Ladwa of Kurukshetra district.
Haryana horticulture director Arjun Singh Saini said the prices of potatoes keep fluctuating following a sudden fall and increase in the area under cultivation. He said that the scheme will help the farmers to cover losses even this year. “The department has already paid ₹9.04 crore to the farmers so far. Most of the farmers get the margin money within 15 days and the department will examine if the payments of farmers are still pending for the previous years,” he said.
