Lok Sabha Question No. 239 (STARRED), answered on 2015-12-15
Subject: Remunerative Prices for Vegetables and Fruits
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: RAJESH RANJAN  (PAPPU  YADAV), BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA

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

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 239

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 15 TH  DECEMBER, 2015

## REMUNERATIVE PRICES FOR VEGETABLES AND FRUITS

- *239.      SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the prices of fruits and vegetables have increased manifold in the country and are beyond the reach of common man;
- (b) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  intensify  Market  Intervention  Scheme  (MIS) and procure the fruits and vegetables directly from the   farmers    through  NAFED and other co-operative agencies;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  make  available adequate quantity of fruits/vegetables at an affordable price to the public in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ षि एवं ककसान कल्याण ½ãâ¨ããè (SHRI RADHA MOHAN SINGH)

- (a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.  239    DUE FOR REPLY ON 15 TH  DECEMBER, 2015.

(a): The  Consumer  Price  Indices  (CPI)  for  Fruits  and  Vegetables  have  increased marginally over the last year. The Year-on-Year Inflation Rate (%) has started to decline largely  since  March,  2015  for  fruits  and  vegetables,  as  well.  The  details  are  at Annexure-I.

(b): Government  has  taken  several  measures  to  increase  production  of  fruits  and vegetables.

(c) & (d): The Government is implementing the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for  procurement  of  Horticultural  and  Agricultural  commodities  which  are  generally perishable  in  nature  and  are  not  covered  under  Price  Support  Scheme  (PSS).  The objective  is  to  provide  remunerative  prices  to  the  growers  and  protect  their  interest. Government  of  India  announces  Market  Intervention  Scheme  (MIS)  on  the  specific request  from  State  Government  to  prevent  distress  sale  of  Horticulture  and  other commodities  in  falling  market.    Under  the  scheme,  losses  are  shared  by  State Government/Government  of  India  on  50:50  basis  with  the  ceiling  of  25%  of  the procurement cost.  The commodities covered under the Scheme include Onion, Potato, Ginger, Kinnow, Red Chillies, Black Pepper, Coriander Seed, etc.

The details  of  MIS  operations  under  taken  by      NAFED/State      Agency  are  at Annexure-II

(e): Government  is  taking  several  measures  to  increase  production  of  fruits  and vegetables, some of which are as under:

- o The Government is implementing the National   Agriculture Market (NAM).

-2-

As per the scheme, a common e-market platform is being deployed to link the  existing  physical  mandis  across  the  country  through  online  enabling buyers situated even outside the State to participate trading at local level. It  will  ensure significant benefits through higher returns to farmers, lower transaction costs to buyers and stable prices and availability to consumers.

- o Government has advised State Governments to encourage direct marketing, farmer consumer markets and e-markets.
- o To  boost  the  production  of  vegetables  and    fruits    in  the  country, Government  is  implementing  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of Horticulture  (MIDH)  which  provides  support  for  production  of  planting material, vegetable seed production, vegetable cultivation, rejuvenation of senile orchards, protected cultivation, creation of water resources, creation of  infrastructure    to  prevent  post  harvest  losses  of  horticultural  crops, adoption of Integrated Nutrient Management (INM)/Integrated Pest Management  (IPM)  and  organic  farming  including  insitu  generation  of organic  inputs.  Assistance  for  increasing  horticulture  production  is  also being provided under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana  (RKVY) scheme.
- o Assistance is provided for development of infrastructure for post harvest management and marketing such as storages, wholesale markets, rural primary market, Kissan Mandies, etc.
- o Implementing  Market  Intervention  Scheme  (MIS)  for  procurement  of agricultural and horticultural commodities including fruits & vegetables.

- o Setting up of Price Stabilisation Fund with a corpus of Rs. 500 Crores to provide  working  capital  to  State  Government/  State  Agencies/  Central agencies such as SFAC,  NAFED,  FCI, etc. for procurement and distribution of perishables  agricultural and horticultural commodities. The fund is to be used to buy produce directly from producers at the time of major production cycles and hold it in storage for its gradual / regulated release into major markets, so as to check the steep price rise in important commodities including onion and potato.
- o The  Government  has  also  issued  advisory  to  States,  as  Agriculture Marketing is regulated as per the state APMC Acts, for de-regulating sale of fruits and vegetables outside the APMC market yard.  This is expected to  encourage  development  of  alternate  avenues  of  sale  such  as  direct marketing,  private  markets,  farmer  consumer  markets,  etc.  as  well  as retain the option of APMC market yard. The farmer will get more options for sale of his/her produce at more remunerative prices.

Annexure-I

Table-1: Year-on-Year Inflation Rate (%)-2014

|        |   Fruits |   Vegetables |
|--------|----------|--------------|
| Jan-14 |    10.37 |        19.57 |
| Feb-14 |    11.39 |        10.95 |
| Mar-14 |    12.73 |        13.8  |
| Apr-14 |    15.79 |        14.41 |
| May-14 |    16.83 |        10.72 |
| Jun-14 |    15.9  |         4.26 |
| Jul-14 |    17.46 |        12.64 |
| Aug-14 |    19.4  |        10.8  |
| Sep-14 |    18.64 |         0.75 |
| Oct-14 |    15.01 |        -8.41 |
| Nov-14 |    10.75 |       -16.77 |
| Dec-14 |    10.94 |        -3.37 |

Source: Central Statistical Office, New Delhi Table-2: Year-on-Year Inflation Rate (%)-2015

|        |   Fruits |   Vegetables |
|--------|----------|--------------|
| Jan-15 |    10.8  |         8.84 |
| Feb-15 |     9.01 |        13.01 |
| Mar-15 |     7.5  |        11.09 |
| Apr-15 |     5.08 |         6.55 |
| May-15 |     3.84 |         4.72 |
| Jun-15 |     3.51 |         5.3  |
| Jul-15 |     1.45 |        -7.99 |
| Aug-15 |     0.92 |        -6.3  |
| Sep-15 |     0.86 |         0.06 |
| Oct-15 |     1.98 |         2.42 |

Source: Central Statistical Office, New Delhi

Table-3: The details of MIS implemented during the year 2011-12 to 2015-16 by this Ministry are as under:

Pradesh

|   S.No. | Year                                                | Commodity     | Market Intervention Price (MIP) (Rs. per MTs.)   | State            | Sanctioned Qty (in MTs.)   |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------|----------------------------|
|       1 | 2011-12 06.04.2011 to 31.05.2011                    | Arecanut      | White - 75,900/-                                 | Karnataka        | White - 8,000              |
|       1 | 2011-12 06.04.2011 to 31.05.2011                    | Arecanut      | Red - 97,900/-                                   | Karnataka        | Red - 4,000                |
|       2 | 2011-12 15.08.2011 to 15.10.2011                    | C grade Apple | 5,250/-                                          | Himachal Pradesh | 50,600                     |
|       3 | 2011-12 10.02.2012 to 10.03.2012                    | Turmeric      | 40,920/-                                         | Karnataka        | 12,400                     |
|       4 | 2011-12 10.02.2012 to 10.03.2012                    | Potato        | 3280/-                                           | Uttar Pradesh    | 1,00,000                   |
|       5 | 2011-12 20.03.2012 to 20.04.2012                    | Turmeric      | 40,000/-                                         | Andhra Pradesh   | 54,000                     |
|       6 | 2012-13 06.06.2012 to 06.07.2012                    | Garlic        | 17,000/-                                         | Rajasthan        | 60,000                     |
|       7 | 2012-13 25.05.2012 to 25.06.2012 2012-13 01.06.2012 | Chilli        | Hybrid - 41,000/- Straight - 37,000/-            | Andhra Pradesh   | 52,000 Hybrid - 31,200     |
|       8 | to 31.07.2012                                       | Turmeric      | 40,000/-                                         | Tamil Nadu       | 35,000                     |

Contd…2/-

|   S.No. | Year                             | Commodity       | Market Intervention Price (MIP) (Rs. per MTs.)   | State            | Sanctioned Qty (in MTs.)   |
|---------|----------------------------------|-----------------|--------------------------------------------------|------------------|----------------------------|
|       9 | 2012-13 20.07.2012 to 31.10.2012 | C grade Apple   | 5,250/-                                          | Himachal Pradesh | 11,822                     |
|      10 | 2012-13 01.12.2012 to 31.12.2012 | Iskut (Choyate) | 5,600/-                                          | Mizoram          | 4,000                      |
|      11 | 2012-13 01.01.2013 to 31.03.2013 | Oil Palm FFB    | 5,720/-                                          | Andhra Pradesh   | 90,000                     |
|      12 | 2012-13 07.03.2013 to 07.04.2013 | Potato          | 3,580/-                                          | Uttar Pradesh    | 1,00,000                   |
|      13 | 2013-14 01.08.2013 to 21.10.2013 | C-grade Apple   | 6,500/-                                          | Himachal Pradesh | 27,000                     |
|      14 | 2013-14 01.08.2013 to 31.08.2013 | Pineapple       | 8,500/-                                          | Nagaland         | 12,675                     |
|      15 | 2013-14 20.02.2014 to 20.03.2014 | Potato          | 3,750/-                                          | Uttar Pradesh    | 1,00,000                   |
|      16 | 2014-15 01.05.2014 to 16.06.2014 | Chilli          | 4,200/-                                          | Mizoram          | 2,850                      |
|      17 | 2014-15 15.08.2014 to 15.10.2014 | 'C' Grade Apple | 6,500/-                                          | Himachal Pradesh | 27,000                     |
|      18 | 2014-15 25.11.2014 to 25.12.2014 | Ginger          | 9,050/-                                          | Nagaland         | 32,000                     |
|      19 | 2015-16 20.05.2015 to 20.06.2015 | Potato          | 4,250/-                                          | Uttar Pradesh    | 1,00,000                   |

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