Agriculture produce market committees, farmers bring good crops and cheque fears

 

 

AHMEDABAD: Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) across Saurashtra and parts of North and Central Gujarat remained closed on Friday while some in North Gujarat began trading. However, APMC trading did not have much impact on prices of commodities. In the Modasa APMC, around 2,500 quintal of groundnut and cotton were traded and the market opened on a high note. There were fears of reduction in price, but in fact the quality of crops raised prices. Groundnut and cotton fetched prices on par with the minimum support price announced by the government.

"At Prantij, which is the biggest market for trading of paddy, price was around Rs 300 for 20 kg; the MSP is Rs 294," said C G Patel the secretary of Prantij APMC. Farmers were accepting cheques for 90% of payment. According to market sources, if the entire trading were to be conducted with cash, a marketyard would need at least 2 crore per day, which was not possible because of the recent cash crisis.

Mahesh Patel, the secretary of Gondal APMC, said that farmers were not willing to sell their produce if payments were made with cheques; farmers said cheques would take three days to clear. Moreover, they said, they would have to queue up for hours outside banks to withdraw just Rs 24,000 a week. "This amount is not adequate to meet transport expenses and wages of labourers," Patel said. Bhikhabhai Gajeram, the secretary of Junagadh APMC, said: "Traders in APMC are finding it difficult to purchase." He said oil millers, whose entire business was conducted with cash, were not willing to pay through cheques. "Hence when there is no buying, APMC traders are not purchasing from farmers," Gajeram said. A B Pandya, the secretary of Amreli APMC, said farmers feared that some cheques may be dishonoured. They were also concerned that traders could cheat them. However, in Ahmedabad, some traders were doing business with cheques

Source : TOI