Shillong, Jul 16: Cabbage prices in Meghalaya have crashed to an all-time low of Rs 2 to Rs 3 per kilogramme, pushing local vegetable farmers in East Khasi Hills to the brink of distress.
In protest, farmers from Smit, Mawpyrshong and other villages, along with members of the Hill Farmers Union (HFU) and the Voice of the People Party (VPP) youth wing, brought two pickups loaded with cabbages and distributed them free of cost to the public at the State Central Library premises here today.
HFU leader Commander Shangpliang said the free distribution was meant to highlight the plight of farmers whose produce has no fair price in the market.
“We brought the cabbages to tell everyone that the farmers’ hard work does not have the price it deserves. We are distributing it for free to send a message to the government that the farmers are in trouble,” Shangpliang said.
He added that the crisis is not limited to cabbages alone. “Not just cabbages, all vegetables do not have a fair price,” he said, urging the government to constitute a committee to look into the matter so that farmers can earn profit instead of suffering losses.
Last year the state cabinet approved a market intervention scheme to support small and marginal farmers by providing fixed price procurement during market price decline.
“We lament the lack of assistance from the government side – no minimum support price, no cold storages, no market linkage – and yet farmers are expected to survive,” a VPP youth wing member said. “To sell their cabbages after months of hard work in the fields for only Rs 2 is sad. We stand with our farmers.”
Farmers said without proper storage and market support, tons of produce rot while they continue to bear the cost of cultivation, leaving many families in East Khasi Hills struggling to recover even basic input costs.
