CHANDIGARH—Contrary to the popular blame game that the real crisis in agriculture in India is not because of poor traditional farming practices but is a result of a deficient marketing supply and distribution chain across the country, feels Dr R.S Minhas, Organic farm expert of Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh. He said that due to lack of marketing mechanism of agriculture produce, agriculture has not been a lucrative profession that was on top in the past. GenX prefers to work in small factories just to earn between Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 but did not want to work in their fields.
Himachal Pradesh a tiny hill state needs a supply chain platform for procuring and delivering farm-based produce to consumers. The platform could basically link farmers, intermediaries, logistics providers, distributors and small-time retailers. Experts in the field should learn from Mumbai dabbawallahs on the world’s best example of efficient supply management run by illiterate, middle-aged people dealing in the perishable food business.
Presently, it is a big question that needs an answer “Who runs agriculture today?” he asks, “from fixing prices to renting godowns everything comes under government control. The present agriculture crisis is on management/planning and marketing that are business ‘issues.’ The first green revolution took care to increase yield in agriculture through research. But answers to these problems all these years are put forward by agriculture scientists. The gap took a glaring proportion. Agriculturists suggested bringing professionals in agriculture.
It is also found a lot of confusion exists between central and state policies on crop production. Why we need the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter of migrant problems during COVID 19 to interpret to distribute food to the hungry when intellectuals are harping on achieving food security? Dr Minhas feels that private entrepreneurs can do a better job in solving the marketing problem that the government officials.
In a real and general sense, a farmer is not poor. The worth of land he owns depends on the distance from the main city. Even a small landholder can finance himself and does not really need aid. Crop income may be meager but not asset value. After more than 70 years of Independence, our farmers still send their produce to the city in outdated methods. They use bags, sacks, bundles to define their produce, said a retailer of Sector 26 Grain Market. In most cases weighing machines is not used to weigh their produce while selling it to traders.
Farmers of Himachal Pradesh need in the present day scenario is small collection units comprising 3-4 villages which simply covered shelter, weighing machines, crates, small truck for local pickups run by the farmer’s group or rural youth to handle value-added services for which youth can be trained. Collection centers can be interconnected with simple technology tools to gather data and connect to buyers to enhance an unorganized supply chain.
In agriculture, there is hundred of middlemen right from the vegetable seller to truckers, wholesalers, agents and it is not possible to just ignore them. They can be supported with bank loans to set up godowns, trucks and processing units in their respective areas. They may be proved to add value to the chain. Most of the solutions are the results of the urban organization that are never involved with the farmer solution process.
On the other, the government does not want to leave farmers at the mercy of middlemen as it cuts both ways. However, for agriculture to become a profitable profession there are no instant food solutions. It needs better planning and coordination across different stakeholders.
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