Farmers get fair price for their produce, wider market

With the launch of Electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) facility, the Agriculture Marketing Committee in Cumbum helps farmers command a better price for their produce and eliminate middlemen.

This facility also helps traders procure quality produce in bulk at one place and ensure transparent financial transactions.

Now, the Cumbum marketing committee is busy stocking large quantities of maize and cumbu, thanks to the commencement of harvesting season in rain-fed areas of Gudalur, Cumbum and nearby areas.

N.J. Pal Raj, secretary, Theni Agricultural Produces Marketing Committee, said at present, they marketed farm produce within the district. The Cumbum committee would soon be linked to the State level agriculture market platform under e-NAM before March 2018 and later with the national agriculture market.

Fifteen marketing committees in eight districts, including Villupuram, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram and Vellore, would be hooked on to the State portal.

In the second phase, 40 such committees would be integrated. Later, these committees would be linked with the national portal to enable farmers to sell their produce across the country, he added.

Selection of the committee was based on the volume of arrivals and their marketing in a fiscal. The Theni committee had handled 12,150 tonnes of produce in 2015-16, 7,000 tonnes in 2016-17 and 3,000 tonnes in this fiscal. The slump in arrivals last year was due to the acute drought condition and monsoon failure. With the commencement of harvesting now, the committee had started receiving maize and cumbu. The committee also supported farmers in selling their paddy, coconut and other crops, he added.

“Traders can now focus only on demand. Earlier, we had faced trouble with farmers in fixing the price for their produce on the basis of quality. Now the committee has a quality checking facility,” said D. Iyyappan, a trader in Cumbum.

S. Sundara Cholan, another farmer from the area, said the sale amount would be credited in his account within 24 hours. He had kept one and a half tonnes of cumbu and one tonne of maize. Now, maize was priced at around ₹1,400 per quintal and cumbu at ₹1,700. Officials also advised farmers to wait for a possible hike in prices, he said, adding he did not have to pay commission to middlemen and wait indefinitely for payment anymore.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/farmers-get-fair-price-for-their-produce-wider-market-cumbum/article21098248.ece