Hill Farmers’ Union (HFU) today said that the reason for the crash in price on chayote was lack of demand from the market in Assam.
Farmers in South West Khasi Hills have raised concern over the drop in prices of the vegetable that went down to Rs 2. Farmers, who had invested heavily on chayote, are shattered as they are forced to sell at throwaway prices of Rs 2 per kg just three days back; today the price went further down to Rs 1.
Surprisingly, the price of chayote in Shillong is between Rs 30-40 per kg.
HFU president, Commander Shangpliang told Highland Post that in such times there is a need for the government to introduce the market intervention scheme to assist the farmers.
Stating that the union has apprised the government about the importance of the scheme Shangpliang said that if price support mechanism is implemented for the procurement of perishable and horticultural commodities, in the event of a fall in market prices, it can assist the farmers when there is a drastic crash of any agriculture items.
While exploitation of farmers by middlemen cannot be ruled out, another factor pointed out by the HFU president nothing much could be done as long as farmers are not united.
Admitting that the union has not been able to bring farmers together to fight against exploitation, Shangpliang said traders are united and are after an opportunity to avail maximum profits. “So it is time that farmers should also unite and form cooperative societies in their respective villages to discuss problems they face.”
He also observed that the government should enhance the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) from Rs 6000 to Rs 10,000 a year and that it should cover all farmers not just landholders.
Stating that the budget allocation for the agriculture department in the state is very low unlike in other states of the country, Shangpliang said that this clearly shows that the government is least bothered about this department and ultimately the farmers of the state.
The Meghalaya government is not able to meet the seed requirements of the farmers of the state besides many other necessities.
Shangpliang said that the different departments are only able to provide less than 50 per cent of the subsidies seeds required by the farmers of the state and the farmers have to procure the rest from the open market at higher prices.
Stating that even though the government has also stopped providing subsidies for chemical fertilizer to promote organic cultivation but nothing much is being done to promote the latter.
