Agriculture fairs: Increased online registration, but slump in business baffles exhibitors

Agriculture exhibitions start making their presence felt in the state from the end of November as the agricultural community looks forward to spending their kharif earnings on newer farm technology and inputs. However, this year, organisers of agricultural fairs rue the fact that the spending by farmers have gone down which is affecting the turnover of the exhibitors.

In the sugar belt of western Maharashtra, Yashwant Krushi Udyog Pashu Pakshi Pradarshani in Karad is a major agricultural fair.

Organised by Karad wholesale market, the average turnover of the market is more than Rs 8 crore. Sandeep Gidde, the organiser coordinator of the fair, said that this year the fair could manage to notch about Rs 6 crore worth of business only. “The agricultural community does not have money in hand,” he said. Last year, this fair had shot to fame after introducing an internal currency called Yashwant chalan to tide over the cash crunch during demonetisation. Gidde said that while cash was no more a problem with the rural market, the spending power of the rural markets have reduced drastically. Gidde’s company has lined up several agricultural exhibitions in western Maharashtra and Konkan, but he is pessimistic about the business outlook.

Milk, which is an important cash earner in this region, Gidde pointed out, has been fetching dirt cheap rates and many farmers who supplement their income through dairy are hit hard. “It’s ironical that milk prices have collapsed to Rs 19 per litre whereas a bottle of water is priced at Rs 20,” he said.
Prices of vegetables and fruits for the last few months have also been very low which has hurt the farmer’s spending power.

Niranjan Deshpande, the organiser of major fair titled Kisan, said the quest for farmers for newer technology continues unfazed by their economics. Deshpande mentioned that farmers continue to patronise online registrations with Kisan’s Green Pass — the online registration facility — recording almost five times as traction as compared to 2016. Till December 6 last year, 2,469 registrations were recorded.  “This year, we will have a day-long conference by Israeli companies which are looking for tie-ups with Indian companies in terms of technology transfer etc,” he said. The Kisan fair, which is to start from December 14, will also see a pavilion for agricultural  start-ups.