Chilli farmers form group in Ferozepur to market produce

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, May 22

Fed up with the low mandi rates, 20 farmers in Ferozepur have formed a collective to buy chillies from small and marginal farmers.

Against the market price of Rs 21 per kg offered by traders, the collective is buying chilli at Rs 28 (Sahiba variety) and Rs 34 per kg (United variety).

Balwinder Singh of Mahalan village in Ferozepur said, “We decided to market the produce ourselves. The middlemen take away the profits while growers are left high and dry. Even a government-run plant in Abohar is offering just Rs 24 per kg for chillies.”

After the Aam Aadmi Party government gave a call for the crop diversification, farmers who followed the advice said the move had failed to yield any result.

Lack of marketing, government support through price stabilisation fund and inability to shrug off middlemen has weaned away farmers from experimenting with various crops.

Yesterday, Jeewan Singh of Bhaini Bhaga village in Mansa ploughed his capsicum crop after traders offered him just Rs 1 per kg. “Rather than being humiliated daily, I decided to get over the ‘shock’ in one go,” he said, adding that the cultivation cost stood at around Rs 80,000 per acre.

“I will not grow capsicum next year and stick to the crops that have an assured minimum support price. The market dynamics change every year and there is no insulation for farmers,” said Jeewan.

Vegetable trader Dimpy Sachdeva of Jalandhar said they were buying capsicum grown in Sultanpur Lodhi for up to Rs 6 per kg. In Sangrur and Faridkot, capsicum was being bought for Rs 2.50 per kg and Rs 4 per kg, respectively, said Sachdeva, adding that the growers had fetched between Rs 20 to Rs 35 per kg last year.

Even potato farmers suffered massive loss. Last year, farmers in south Malwa had uprooted their plants from orchards after suffering losses.

Dr Shailendra Kaur, Director, Horticulture Department, said the government was teaching entrepreneurial skills to farmers so that the middlemen can be bypassed.

“We have initiated a programme — Punjab Horticulture Advancement and Sustainable Entrepreneurship. Farmers are being trained to market their produce themselves,” she said.

Assistance to growers

The collective formed in Ferozepur is because of our hand-holding. We encouraged farmers to study the collectives of chilli growers in Rajasthan to market their produce. Farmers should go in for soil testing to bring down the pesticide level. — Dr Shailendra Kaur, director, horticulture dept

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