As Mandis Get Shut, Here Are Five Ways The Government Can Help Farmers Cope

Encouraging farmers to hedge through futures and increased use of WDRA warehouses are among key options

- Rajalakshmi Nirmal

With the nationwide lockdown to control the spread of Covid-19, mandis where farmers sell their harvest have also been closed. Across the country, the harvest of several crops including wheat, mustard, chana and coriander has started and farmers are sitting on truckloads of grains and pulses.

In the kharif season, many farmers lost their soyabean and other crops due to excessive rains and were waiting for this rabi harvest to pay back their loans. But now they are now facing a new problem: closed mandis and crashing prices. While, initially, most States announced that mandis will open from April 1, it now appears as if they will be closed till April 14 due to the nationwide lock-down. There is now the risk of local traders exploiting small farmers and buying their produce at throwaway prices.

Last week, when the mandis were open, the prices had already moved lower. Our ground check revealed traders in Agar, Madhya Pradesh, paid wheat farmers only ₹1,600-1,700/quintal against the MSP of ₹1,925/quintal. In case of lentil (masoor), trade was done at ₹4,300/quintal versus the MSP of ₹4,800/quintal; gram (chickpea) was traded at ₹3,900-4,000/ quintal versus MSP of ₹4,875/quintal.

Farmers who still have standing crops may decide to delay harvest, but that can invite a bigger problem in case of change in weather.

The recovery in agri GDP seen in the last three quarters (AprilDecember 2019-20) at 10.6 per cent compared to 3.8 per cent in the same period last year, will vanish if the current situation is not addressed.

Here are five action points that the Centre and States can consider.

Restricted time for mandis