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Agricultural Marketing & Agri-Business :: Markets & Co-Operatives | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
IntroductionAgriculture occupies a very important role in the growth of economy of our country, which is also the backbone of the economic system. India is primarily an agricultural country. The prosperity of the Indian economy is dependent on the course of agricultural production. Of course, agriculture contributes a major share of the national income of India. In India, agriculture meets almost the entire food requirements of the people. Agriculture also provides fodder to sustain livestock whose number runs to several crores. In the field of agriculture, marketing determines the value of the agricultural product in terms of money and delivers them to the final customer. Most of the farmers sell their produce through village level markets, fairs, Mandies, Co-operative Societies etc. In the above process of agricultural marketing, the middlemen exploit farmers as well as consumers. In order to eliminate the middlemen between farmers and consumers, the Government of Tamilnadu introduced the new concept, namely “UZHAVAR SANTHAI” in 1999. Generally, the middlemen and wholesale businessmen purchase the Agricultural products from the farmers at a lower price. They also get the commission from the farmers for the transactions made. In turn, fresh vegetables and fruits purchased at the lower price from the farmers are sold out to retail businessmen at higher price and the retail businessmen sell those Agricultural Products further at higher price to the consumers. As a result, the farmers get only the lower price for their produce whereas the consumers have to pay higher price for the same produce. Hence, the Government of Tamilnadu has introduced an alternate scheme of marketing, which is known as “UZHAVAR SANTHAI” in order to derive more benefits to the farmers as well as consumers. Aim:
Salient features The prices of the vegetables and fruits are daily fixed at the average of 20 % higher than the wholesale prices and 15% less than retail prices by the Committee consisting of the representatives of farmers and officials.
Organisation The location of the “Uzhavar Santhai” is of utmost importance. The Uzhavar Santhais are located in a consumer area, where the consumers can approach to the market easily. In fact, the main intention is to ensure the urban character of the location, so that adequate number of consumers will benefit from the market. The first Uzhavar Sandhai of the state was inaugurated on 14.11.1999 at Madurai and 100th Uzhavar Sandhai on 14.11.2000 at Pallavaram. 103 Uzhavar Santhais were established between 14.11.1999 and 30.4.2001. 28 Uzhavar Santhais, which were closed between 2001 and 2005, were reopened during June 2006 and an amount of Rs.42.00 lakhs was spent for the renovation of 103 Uzhavar Santhais. At Present 103 Uzhavar Santhais are functioning with full vigor. The new concept of Uzhavar Santhai is implemented in Tamilnadu in massive scale. All Uzhavar Santhai are maintained by Agricultural Marketing Department and manned by the staff of the Department of Agricultural Marketing, Agriculture, and Horticulture. The District Collector is the coordinator for running the Uzhavar Santhai successfully in the Districts whereas in State as a whole, the scheme is implemented by the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness, Chennai-32. Staff pattern of Uzhavar Sandai
The duties assigned to the staff are as follows
The Uzhavar Sandais are maintained by the Market Committees of the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness. The concerned Market Committee Secretary will be the coordinator for the Uzhavar Sandai as additional charge to his duties. For the Uzhavar Sandai that is not established at the committee head quarters the Assistant Director of Agriculture/ Assistant Director of Horticulture in the jurisdiction will hold the additional charge of Coordinator of Uzhavar Sandai. The Coordinators of Uzhavar Sandai must look after the daily functioning of Uzhavar Sandai, price fixation etc .In addition to the Agricultural officers and Assistant Agricultural Officers in the post harvest technology centers of the Department of Agricultural Marketing and Agribusiness, Agricultural officers and Assistant Agricultural Officers of the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture in the districts are also utilised. Facilities to be provided at Farmer's Market Photo Identity Card Based on the recommendations made by the team, identity cards are to be issued to the farmers, in which photo of the land owner and his nominee with the particulars of the village name to which the farmer belongs, survey number, extent of the land owned by him, and the vegetables grown are mentioned. The identity cards are to be renewed every six months with reference to the vegetables grown in their fields. Transport Facility Transport facility for pick up and dropping down of the registered farmers to the Farmers market are arranged by the market functionaries through tie-up with state transport department. Allotment of stalls Stalls are to be allotted to the farmers by following lot method or first come first basis. The farmers are not allowed to occupy the stalls permanently. No fee is to be collected from the farmers. Prices Fixation The market committee will every day communicate the moderate wholesale prices of vegetables through fax between 7.30 AM and 8.00 AM . Based on the same, the prices of vegetable are fixed in consultation with the farmers committee, which may be 20% -25% higher than the whole sale price and lower than the local retail market prices in the area. Public Address System Prices of vegetables are frequently announced through public address system to create awareness of the rates of the vegetables among the consumers as well as farmers. Supply of weighing scales When the farmers enter into a Farmers market their names along with the particulars such as name of the village and the quantity of vegetables brought by them are entered in a register and they are issued a token. On the basis of the token issued to them, all the farmers are provided with weighing scales without collecting any fee. The farmers will return back the scales after completing their sales. Other facilities: Drinking water facilities Additional facilities like Computers for effective communication, new hybrid seeds, seedlings, organic farming methodology, vermicomposting demonstration and post harvest management training to farmers will also be offered to those farmers visiting Uzhavar Sandhai. 25 Uzhavar Sandhais have been supplied with computers.
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