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Though more than 16,000 farmers have registered at 184 procurement centres set up by the district administration to buy red gram at a minimum support price (MSP) of ₹6,300 per quintal, not one of them has sold his crop at these centres as the market price of the produce is hovering above the MSP.
A majority of farmers are too small to generate an adequate marketable surplus and they do not take the trouble of going to the procurement centres as they prefer to sell their crop to local traders to avoid practical difficulties and cumbersome process involved in selling their produce at the centres.
A dall mill owner said that most of the farmers have decided to hold back their produce anticipating better prices, though the price is hovering between ₹6,400 and ₹6,600 per quintal in the private market. However, there is a huge demand for old stock and the price for red gram harvested during the last kharif season may go up to ₹7,000 per quintal. The price for fresh arrivals will remain the same, he added.
Big farmers are procuring crops from small and marginal farmers who have harvested less than five quintals and selling them to private traders in neighbouring Maharashtra and Telangana.
Farmers from the Chincholli area are selling their produce either to local agents or transporting them to Tandur in Telangana and farmers in Aland taluk are selling it in Latur district of Maharashtra.
Farmers from various parts of the district have said that there has been a fall in yield of up to four quintals per acre due to rainfall in excess that prevailed during the kharif season.
Sudarshan Reddy, a farmer from Kallur in Chincholi taluk, who has cultivated red gram on 32 acres, said that the production of red gram dropped to 95 quintals in comparison to 180 quintals last kharif season. Of the 32 acres he cultivated this year, rain destroyed standing crops on 18 acres, he added.
Kalyanrao Jhalji, another farmer from Gotur in Chittapur taluk, who suffered crop loss due to rain in excess, has harvested just 20 quintals of red gram from 20 acres. He said that the average yield per acre has been even less than a quintal in some areas.
Farmers say that they prefer to sell their crops to private traders as the government purchases produce only if the quality matches the standards and one is not sure of getting the fixed MSP. They feel that it is more beneficial to sell it directly to traders despite them getting ₹200 to ₹300 per quintal less against the prevailing price. And, most importantly, they will get their payments immediately.
Chairman of the Karnataka State Pulses Development Board Linga Reddy G. Basareddy said that though the board has written to the State Government seeking incentive for red gram procurement. The Government may announce incentives in the forthcoming State Budget, but it will not help farmers, he added.
During the 2021-22 kharif season, red gram was sown on a targeted area of 5.30 lakh hectares in the district and the targeted production of the crop set by the Agriculture Department decreased from 45 lakh quintals to 30 lakh quintals due to rainfall in excess across the district.
