Lok Sabha Question No. 423 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-05
Subject: High Prices of Fruits and Vegetables
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL), KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.423

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  5 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## HIGH PRICES OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

423.   SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI PATIL: SHRI KRUPAL BALAJI TUMANE:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  price  of  fruits  and  vegetables  being  sold  in  the  city  mandis  increase manifold by the time these reach the retail markets;
- (b) if so, the remedial steps taken/ being taken by the Government to solve this problem;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  fix  maximum  price  to  limit  the  arbitrary  profit margin on the fruits and vegetables and to fix the maximum selling profit margin thereon; and
- (d) if so, the time by which it is likely to be implemented?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंालय म राय मंी ( SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a)  & (b): The prices of fruits and vegetables may increase from wholesale markets to retail market due to various factors such as transportation cost, loading/unloading expenses, grading/ sorting,  wholesaler's  margin,  wastages  during  movement/weighing,  location  of  retail shops, fixed overhead expenses of retailers and margin of retailers etc.

Steps taken by Government to control the prices of fruits and vegetables are as follows:

- i. Farmers are mobilised into Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) for aggregation and bringing economies of scale. Continuous efforts are being made to link FPOs to market by way of direct marketing, farmer consumer markets and e-NAM.
- ii. The  Government  has  circulated  to  States/Union  Territories  (UTs)  for  adoption  'The Agriculture Produce and Livestock Marketing (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2017', which provides for alternate marketing channels such as setting up of private markets, direct marketing, farmer-consumer markets, special commodity markets, declaring warehouses/silos/cold  storages  or  such  structures  as  market  sub  yards  to  facilitate farmers in marketing their produce at competitive and remunerative prices.

- iii. In  order  to  optimise  the use of scarce resources and mitigate the uncertainty in price and  marketing,  the  Government  has  formulated  and  released  a  progressive  and facilitative  Model  Act  'The  ----State/  UT  Agricultural  Produce  &  Livestock  Contract Farming and Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018' in May, 2018 for its adoption by the states/Union Territories (UTs). The aforesaid Model Contract Farming Act covers the  entire  value  and  supply  chain  from  pre-production  to  post  harvest  marketing including services contract for the agricultural produce and livestock.
- iv. Government  is  implementing  National  Agriculture  Market  (e-NAM)  scheme  wherein online trading of agriculture  commodities  including  horticulture  commodities  is  carried out  in  transparent  and  competitive  manner  helping  the  farmers  with  better  price discovery for their produce, while at the same time lowering transaction costs thereby stabilizing prices.
- v. The  Government  has  announced  in  Union  Budget  2018-19  to  develop  and  upgrade existing  22,000  rural  haats  into  Gramin  Agricultural  Markets  (GrAMs)  to  work  as centers  of  aggregation  and  for  direct  purchase  of  agricultural  commodities  thereby substantially improving market access for farmers.
- vi. Assistance  is  provided  under  various  schemes  such  as  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  YojanaRemunerative Approaches  for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation  (RKVYRAFTAAR), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for  Agricultural  Marketing  (ISAM),  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of  Horticulture (MIDH) for development of post harvest management and marketing infrastructure such as cold storages, ripening chamber, pack houses, reefer vehicles, primary and wholesale markets,  etc.
- vii. Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for procurement of horticultural commodities which are perishable in nature and are not covered under Price Support Scheme.
6. (c)  & (d): No such proposal is under consideration.

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