MNCs indulgence in veg trade hits traders

Visakhapatnam: Though the State government is paying its efforts to push the horticulture cultivation at a massive scale, the vegetation growth is coming down across the state.

Due to various reasons, there is a big difference between the per head consumption of vegetables and its availability. Due to less rainfall, depletion of underground waters and particularly the usage of pesticides heavily, the yield is coming down gradually. Meanwhile, the bulk-level procurement and advanced purchase creating big demand in the open markets.

The common people are not even consuming 50 per cent of vegetables per day against 330 grams supposed to be used. As the vegetation in the normal and pro-climate conditions is coming down, the expenditure cost on the vegetation is almost doubling. However, the lavish customers like corporate educational institutions, hyper and super markets, hotels and chain restaurants are procuring the vegetables from farmers by giving advance.

The lavish customers are also making insurance to the crops. With the income security and advance payments, the big farmers are not concentrating on cultivation and they are not bothering about the transportation and marketing strategies.

Even at the Rythu Bazaar also the same situation is prevailing. The small-scale farmers are only coming to the bazaar to sell their products. The common meals hotels, restaurants and catering service businessmen are coming to bazaars and procuring vegetables in bulk and the common people are not getting good vegetables in the markets.

“Earlier, we have to lift the vegetables to open markets. Now, the lavish customers are coming and giving advances at our door steps. They are lifting the vegetables on every two/three days according to their requirements. The farmers, who cultivating one acre and below are only now moving their produce to the open markets,” said P Bhanu Prasad, a farmer of Bheemili, who is offering his vegetables to a corporate college hostel.
“It is true that there is a difference between the supply and demand in the State.

The lavish customers including hostels, hotels, canteens super, hyper markets and other bulk users are procuring the vegetables at the field level. The marketing managers of the companies are rushing to the farmers and paying advances also. How can the government stop their style of marketing strategies,” one of the Joint Directors of AP Horticulture Department said on the condition of anonymity.