A COMING THAW IN RURAL DEMAND?

Farmers are getting antsy as crop prices plunge and incomes take a hit

- Sayantan Bera

A file photo of farmers ploughing their land to cultivate potatoes. Prices of most consumed vegetables like onions and potatoes are on a slide, lower by 73% and 43%, respectively, year-on-year.

“I could either buy a new car or use that money to plant potatoes,” said Bhupesh Kajla, laughing. For the 40-year-old farmer from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, the Kharif crop season turned out to be a damp squib.

The premium basmati paddy he planted on 45 acres was damaged by excess rains, just ahead of harvest in October. Yields were lower by a fifth and wholesale prices were around what they were two years back.

“I just about managed to recover the cost of cultivation,” Kajla said over phone. He is worried that the next winter crop of potato may be a washout, not because of inclement weather but due to plunging prices. Wholesale potato prices are hovering around ₹600 for a 50-kg bag, just about enough to cover the cost of cultivation, labour expenses for harvest, rental for cold stores and cost of transporting the produce to mandis (wholesale markets). Around this time last year, prices were nearly double.

“In two months, I will begin to harvest the potatoes. Fifty pairs of hands will work on my fields for over a month. Add to this the cost of transport and cold store rental. The daily expenses in the harvest season will be over ₹25,000,” Kajla said, adding, if prices drop further, his losses will mount. “And most likely prices will drop because of over planting by farmers across states.”

This is why Kajla stopped short of replacing his 12-year-old sedan with a new car. That just seemed like an extravagance after a dull harvest season. Instead, he spent a modest ₹90,000 on a harrow and a tiller, replacing some of his old farm machinery.