Farmers exploited at every step in agricultural marketing: Minister Patil

Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil said here on Friday that farmers in the country continue to remain at the mercy of middlemen and marketing practices that deprive them of a fair price for the agricultural produce.

Speaking at a seminar on “Law on Agricultural Produce Marketing”, Mr. Patil dwelt on the structural flaws in agricultural marketing and said that it had led to exploitation of farmers at every stage and everyone were mute spectators to it.

Explaining how farmers are short-changed at every step - from farm to market, Mr. Patil said that there was 10% to 20% discrepancy in the actual weight from what was recorded on scale. Once the sale was completed, the farmers were forced to wait indefinitely as there was no culture of timely payment.

The brokers or commission agents give a pittance to the farmers as token advance after purchase, and the final payment can be delayed for several weeks leaving farmers in a state of uncertainty, he added.

He also underscored the disparity between what the consumer pays and what the farmers receive, for the same produce. Citing Reserve Bank of India report, Mr. Patil said the farmer’s share for sale of agricultural produce is merely one-third of what the consumers pay at the time of purchase, the rest being pocketed by middlemen and other intermediaries.

The Minister recalled that agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan had recommended a formula under which the Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be fixed at 1.5 times above the comprehensive cost of cultivation. “Although an MSP exists, it is not based on the Swaminathan Committee’s benchmark, which remains a major challenge in agricultural marketing,” he said.

Calling for reforms, the Minister stressed that prosperity would come only when farmers themselves were empowered to set prices for what they grew. “So long as they are denied this role, they will continue to be short-changed despite working the hardest,” he said.

The seminar deliberated on the legal framework governing agricultural marketing and the need for effective enforcement of laws to prevent malpractice and restore trust between cultivators and markets.

C.S. Patil, director, KILPAR, Revaiah Odeyara, research head, KILPAR, V. Kaveesh Gowda, secretary, Vidya Vikas Educational Trust, were among those present at the seminar, organised by the Karnataka Institute for Law and Parliamentary Reforms, Bengaluru, and Vidya Vikas Institute of Legal Studies on the Vidya Vikas Educational Trust campus.