Blackmail on the fields

Vegetable mafia manage to arm-twist farmer into selling stock at a ridiculously lowu00a0price in the traders' market, as the farmer does not have the money to cart his goods directly to Mumbai Though the farmer is depended upon as the source of fresh vegetables, the truth is that the real manipulators of these essential requirements are the vegetable mafia.The vegetable mafia is aware of the fact that the farmer must sell his crop within 24 hours of harvesting, or face the risk of the goods decaying and causing huge lossesThe farmer sweats it out in the fields for 90 days, and when the product is ready for harvest, the vegetable mafia arm-twists the farmer into selling the produce at a low price.The mafia that comprises of middlemen, agents, transporters and wholesalers, manage to corner the farmer into agreeing to a compromise. Once the farmer succumbs to these tactics, the middlemen who have bought the crop at a pittance make a killing by hiking the price by over 400 per cent. That's the price you pay for the gobi on your plate.It beginsVasant Golap, a farmer in Nashik, is spending sleepless nights for the past week. He just has a few days to salvage the cauliflower (gobi) crop on his farm.Golap explained that the gobi is turning pale yellow and the crop may be lost if he doesn't harvest it soon. The reason he is hesitant to harvest the crop is because market prices have plummeted to an all-time low - much below break-even cost.The standing time of the crop is just eight days after the cauliflower is ready for harvest, Golap told MiD DAY. The going price for cauliflower is around Rs 2 per piece in the APMC. They are sold in packs of 10 each.By the time the consignment reaches Mumbai it's a different story altogether, where cauliflowers are sold around Rs 20 per kilogram (approx Rs 10 a piece).u00a0Last month, cauliflowers were selling for nearly Rs 40 per kg and above in the retail market.Therefore, there is a 200 to 400 per cent hike in the price from the time the cauliflower stock leaves the farmer's hand to the time it reaches your plate.Price riseIdeally, the market forces of demand and supply determine vegetable prices on an average day. However, here too the traders and transport owners manage to control the daily buying and selling price.So when a farmer reaches the market with his produce, he is offered Rs 2 per piece of cauliflower.u00a0The farmer is in a dilemma, as he cannot return to his farm with the crop, as once the vegetable is harvested it must be sold within 24 hours or else decay sets in. The second arm-twister comes from the transport owners.u00a0The cost of transportation is high in the rural belt and is controlled by the transport mafia.u00a0The farmer cannot afford to take his stock back as the transport owners refuse to provide a carrier, should the farmer want to move his stock to a different market.Reluctantly, the farmer has to sell his crop at the price set by the trader.Killer hikesSo while the farmer in the AMPC market at Nashik gets Rs 2 for a cauliflower, the restaurateur buys it at Rs 20.u00a0The average price of an Aloo Gobi dish is between Rs 60-170 across the city, depending on the grade of the restaurants.It is very difficult to explain a 200 per cent hike from the AMPC market to the retailer in Mumbai, a distance of 200-odd km. Arm-twisting Perishable goods have made the farmer a prisoner of the middlemen or the vegetable mafia. He cannot keep the vegetables in the field nor can he stack them at his residence.The farmer does not have the money, resources or the network to cart his products to key markets like Mumbai. More importantly, he has financers and loan sharks back home who have to be paid, thereby forcing him to make a sale irrespective of the low price.Such critical areas are exploited by the vegetable mafia. The middlemen are financially sound and boast of political clout.u00a0The farmer on the other hand lives from hand to mouth and faces starvation if the produce is not sold regularly.We have to give 8 extra cauliflowers per 100 as part of the deal. The buyers believe that about 8 items get damaged in transportation, said Gokul Damodar, who is in the business for the past 40 years.Nashik's APMC assistant secretary K B Shewale feels it is an open market and there is no cheating. The dealings takes place in the presence of all the bidders and the farmer gets to return home with cash the same evening, said Shewale. Rs 2Farmer's selling price per piece Rs 10Retailer's selling price per pieceSo far in the campaign...Peeling layers off the onion tradeAs the hue and cry over an unprecedented hike in onion prices hitting R100/kg ebbs, MiD DAY exposes the invisible hand of the cartel behind the rise. Economics of the vada pavPrices of pulses and vatana, ingredients that go into making your favourite vada pav, go through a 150 per cent hike from the farmer's hand till it reaches the retailer.Who's adding to your food bills?Food inflation hit 17 per cent last month. The common man has almost resigned to the fact of steady price rise. But farmers are none the richer. MiD DAY aims to fill the gaps from the farmer's hand till your plate.In a month-long extensive campaign, MiD DAY will trace the tangle of farmer-middleman-hoarder-politician nexus that is ultimately leaving a sour taste in your mouth.

Blackmail on the fields

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