Mangaluru:The initial days of lockdown saw the prices of vegetables and pulses soar. Despite warnings by the district administration, unscrupulous merchants took advantage of the situation and continued to reap profits. When Krishna Kumar Rai, director, Kedambadi Keyyur Primary Agricultural Credit Society saw this happening at his village in Puttur taluk, he first tried convincing merchants not to hike prices, but to no avail. Then, through the Society, he got vegetables directly from farmers in North Karnataka.
Rai is also the taluk president of Sahakar Bharati, through which he sold agricultural produce sourced from farmers in North Karnataka, to different Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) in the region. He said: “I saw merchants selling onions for Rs 50-60/kg. I requested them to sell at the market price. When they refused to listen, and since I run other businesses with employees from Hubballi and Davanagere, who have farms back home, I checked the prices with them. I requested if they could arrange for the transportation of a load of onions. The first consignment that arrived was of 30 quintals, and we started selling onion for Rs 22/ kg through the society. As soon as this news spread, a few merchants put up boards outside shops, stating the price of onions as Rs 20/kg. In this way we were able to control prices and procure more essentials and extend this mechanism to other PACS. Onion is currently selling at Rs 15/kg,” he said.
At present, nearly 30 PACS are part of this system across Dakshina Kannada. The same happened with Byadagi chillies. At two shops in Kumbra and Olamogaru, the cost was fixed at Rs 440/kg and at a few other places it was priced at Rs 250/kg. “We managed to get it at Rs 228/kg. The whole purpose was to put an end to the artificial scarcity and prevent prices from soaring so that people are not affected during this hour of crisis. People cannot buy in bulk and each family usually gets 1kg of a vegetable. We faced opposition from merchants. Fortunately, we had informed the assistant commissioner and MLA before getting the commodities. Currently, we are providing onions, red chillies, tomatoes, coriander seeds, potatoes and tamarind,” said Rai.
Since experts have suggested that this is a win-win model for both the farmer and the buyer, Sahakar Bharati and PACS are planning to take this beyond the lockdown period. From the past five days, PACS have started earning a narrow profit margin.
Rai is also the taluk president of Sahakar Bharati, through which he sold agricultural produce sourced from farmers in North Karnataka, to different Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) in the region. He said: “I saw merchants selling onions for Rs 50-60/kg. I requested them to sell at the market price. When they refused to listen, and since I run other businesses with employees from Hubballi and Davanagere, who have farms back home, I checked the prices with them. I requested if they could arrange for the transportation of a load of onions. The first consignment that arrived was of 30 quintals, and we started selling onion for Rs 22/ kg through the society. As soon as this news spread, a few merchants put up boards outside shops, stating the price of onions as Rs 20/kg. In this way we were able to control prices and procure more essentials and extend this mechanism to other PACS. Onion is currently selling at Rs 15/kg,” he said.
At present, nearly 30 PACS are part of this system across Dakshina Kannada. The same happened with Byadagi chillies. At two shops in Kumbra and Olamogaru, the cost was fixed at Rs 440/kg and at a few other places it was priced at Rs 250/kg. “We managed to get it at Rs 228/kg. The whole purpose was to put an end to the artificial scarcity and prevent prices from soaring so that people are not affected during this hour of crisis. People cannot buy in bulk and each family usually gets 1kg of a vegetable. We faced opposition from merchants. Fortunately, we had informed the assistant commissioner and MLA before getting the commodities. Currently, we are providing onions, red chillies, tomatoes, coriander seeds, potatoes and tamarind,” said Rai.
Since experts have suggested that this is a win-win model for both the farmer and the buyer, Sahakar Bharati and PACS are planning to take this beyond the lockdown period. From the past five days, PACS have started earning a narrow profit margin.
Coronavirus outbreak
Trending Topics
LATEST VIDEOS
More from TOI
Navbharat Times
Featured Today in Travel
Quick Links
Kerala Coronavirus Helpline NumberHaryana Coronavirus Helpline NumberUP Coronavirus Helpline NumberBareilly NewsBhopal NewsCoronavirus in DelhiCoronavirus in HyderabadCoronavirus in IndiaCoronavirus symptomsCoronavirusRajasthan Coronavirus Helpline NumberAditya ThackerayShiv SenaFire in MumbaiAP Coronavirus Helpline NumberArvind KejriwalJammu Kashmir Coronavirus Helpline NumberSrinagar encounter
Get the app