Maharashtra’s Farmer-To-Consumer Markets Are Changing The Way Farmers Sell Their Produce

With the lack of access to proper infrastructure and transportation mediums, farmers in India depend on multi-tier supply chains to send their produce to the market. This mode not only reduces their profit margin but also leaves a lot of scope for malpractices.

In the state of Maharashtra, the government and farm activist groups have created a unique model that cuts down the supply chain, allows the farmer to reach directly to the customer and empowers him to with various other benefits.

Shri Swami Samarth, one of the 800-plus such companies operating in Maharashtra, is connected to around 2,200 farmers through 60 groups. Farmers transport their produce to these markets located in the vicinity of their farms and are provided with facilities to ensure direct access to customers.

The Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) operates 31 such farmer markets in the state and plans to take the figure to over 100 soon. The agency also supervises the functioning of Maharashtra’s APMC (agriculture produce marketing committee) markets constituted under the APMC (Regulation) Act of 1963.

While the state-run markets have not moved beyond bureaucratic red-tape and have failed to cut down the supply chain, markets run by farm activists have managed to perform well.

In this article for Livemint, Abhiram Ghadyalpatil describes three major differences between the two models. First, the APMC markets do not provide farmers direct access to consumers. Two, the APMC have a long supply-chain method of dealing with goods. Third, the farmers are required to pay 20-30% of the value of their produce as market fees, commission, and charges for loading, unloading, and weighing. Moreover, only buyers licensed by Maharashtra’s directorate of agriculture marketing can purchase farm produce at these markets.

Mumbai’s first farmer to consumer market was opened in August. As the government has introduced some reforms and more are planned, the situation is set to improve soon.