Who is Farmer’s Produce chor?

Why do we grow crops, for someone who can earn money! We as a farmer spends a lot of time in preparing the land, investing in seeds, fertilizers and irrigation. We fights weather, pests and rising costs. When it’s time to sell the produce, profit gets vanish.

Despite of good yield, no income at all. Why? Because of YOU. Your name adds in this list directly or indirectly for not taking the actions.

It sounds weird, there are multiple players in the supply chain who take a cut from the farmer’s earnings. These are the real produce chor.

Why mandi’s are made? to support farmers, right. But over the years, many have become exploitative. Middleman and commission agents decides prices of our produce without transparency.

The farmer has no power to negotiate. Even if the market prices are high, we are forced to accept low offers due to lack of options.

Many fertilizer shops sell duplicate, expired or unnecessary products. They often tell to us the products on which they have higher margins, not what actually crop needs.

Wrong pesticide or products can ruin an entire farm. The farmer not only loses yield but also the money and trust.

We completely rely on nurseries and seeds shop to provide genuine, high quality seeds, but many of them sells low germination or mislabeled varieties. Once it sold, the shop denies responsibility.

This affect plant growth and final output. One bad season due to poor seeds can set a farmer back a year.

Transport plays a crucial role, especially in the case of perishable crops. Many transporters charge unfair rates or delay shipments. A delay of even few hours can result in spoilage.

Sometimes, transporters also collude with mandi buyers, delaying deliver to pressure the farmer into selling cheap.

Though many government schemes exist (PM Kisan, subsidies, crop insurance) middleman still finds a way to exploit. They demand for bribes for form submission or delay the approvals. The result? The farmer doesn’t get the benefit he’s entitled to.

This may be the hardest truth to accept. But we are sometimes, unknowingly becomes our own enemies.

By not checking market rates daily.

By ignoring grading and packing, reducing produce value.

By staying away from digital platforms and direct selling options.

Lack of awareness or willingness to adapt results in missed opportunities. In today’s time, growing the crop is not enough but marketing and selling are.

Build the networks with local societies, apartments or weekly markets. WhatsApp and Facebook groups can help to reach customers.

Farmer produce organization can negotiate better deals with buyers and reduce the dependency of middleman.

Register on trusted platforms like eNAM, DeHaat, Amazon Kisan, Flipkart, BigHaat to get fair prices and wider markets.

Better presentation fetches better price. Simple grading or bundling increases trust with buyers.

One of the lady from Bihar used to sell cauliflower at 7/Kg in local mandi. After learning grading and packing through platform she develops her brand where she can sell her own produce. Now she sells same produce to hotels and caterers in higher rate of 15-20/Kg

I didn’t need to grow more. I just needed to sell better.