The drastic fall in the prices of horticulture produce was a result of unplanned cropping and the Horticulture Department is urging farmers to go for staggered planting to avoid a glut in the market, said Deputy Director, Horticulture, Anantapur, Gatti Satish, in response to a report published in these columns on the issue.
Banana exporting companies had not been taking the entire produce of farmers. However, following the consistent intervention of the department, they agreed to buy the remaining lower grade produce also at a different price. “Recently, the price of bananas came down to ₹1 and ₹2 per kg, but with our intervention, it is improving now,” Mr. Satish claimed.
The Horticulture Commissioner had taken note of the issue raised in the news report and sought information on the ground reality. Officials in Anantapur agreed that the involvement of middlemen was reducing the total price earned by farmers and to change the situation. They advised the growers to form into Farmer Producer Organisations so that they could process, store and market their produce without losing money to other intermediate operators.
“We have been asking the companies and the farmers to be in touch and deal without anyone in between, but in practice, it is not happening. If the farmers in a particular area with a common interest come together, they could reap advantages of various subsidies from the Central and State governments. They could resort to value-addition, marketing, and constructing cold storages to ward off price fluctuations,” Mr. Satish added.
