Farmers not getting due share

With the arrival of the mango season, the price of Alphonso has skyrocketed, but mango farmers still wait their due share. Farmers in Maharashtra mango belts, Devgadh, Ratnagiri, Dapoli and Chiplun, are not happy as the traders and middlemen have the final say on procurement.

Farmers in Malvan, Devgadh, Pawas, Ratnagiri, Chiplun and Dapoli said that traders and agents claimed at least 50 per cent of the price as commission.

Although, good quality Alphonso fetch Rs 350 a dozen, farmers get only Rs 125. The same variety, during the lean period, costs between Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in the Mumbai markets, but farmers get only Rs 75 per dozen.

"I have been doing this business for last 15 years and we are highly dependent on agents. We get around Rs 90 a dozen. But in the direct marketing, there is not much sale," said Shantaram Chauhan, a Ratnagiri-based farmer.

Chauhan owns two mango gardens, which yeild approximately 1,000 boxes of mangoes every season and each box contains about 60-70 mangoes.

"We can not afford to buy trucks to sell mangoes in the market.We are left with no alternative but but to sell our mangoes to these agents at Rs 125 a dozen," said Vivek, a farmer from Malvan.

After the final deal the agents supply the mangoes to the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) yards in Mumbai and Pune at Rs 350 a dozen. By the time it reaches the consumer, the price just doubles or becomes four times depending on the quality and variety.

"The middlemen are deeply entrenched in the APMC market yards with forward linkages with large buyers. They also pay money in advance to farmers for pesticides and labour cost. There is an urgent need to change the system, and get rid of these middlemen," said Prakash Bang of Bangoes, a mango exporter.

India's share of global mango business is 59 per cent, with Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra constituting 65 per cent of the total area under the crop. The Alphonso variety is mainly cultivated in Konkan belt-Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts, it is also grown in Gujarat, Bangalore and Chennai.

According to the APMC officials, India produces almost 11 million tonne of the fruit-more than the rest of the world combined-every year. It exports 35,000 to 40,000 tonne, mainly to Europe and West Asia, earning about Rs 110 crore.

Mango is grown in different parts of the country except at an altitude of above 3,000 feet. Mango cultivation in the country accounts for 42 per cent of the area under fruit cultivation.

Prices of mango vary from place to place, starting from Rs 100 to Rs 375 for a dozen and that, depends of the quality of the mangoes. Prices of Alphonso mangoes in Malvan, Pawas, Chiplun and Dapoli ranges between Rs 90 to 300. In Ratnagiri, mangoes are being sold at a price range of Rs 100- 375 a dozen. However, the quality of these mangoes is not like the Devgadh mangoes.

There are five different grades of mangoes, which are segrated depending on their sizes-A-grade (300-325 gms), 1-grade (276 to 300 gms), 2-grade (251 to 275 gms), 3-grade (225-250 gms) 4-grade (200-225 gms).

Interestingly, there are some farmers who are away from the APMC and middlemen.

"We have our franchisees in some parts of India, where we sell our mangoes. Besides, we have our own retail and wholesale shops in Ratnagiri, which takes care of supplying mangoes across the country," says Yateen.

Patwardhan Ambewale yields a total production of over 50,000 boxes every year. Yateen said, "The domestic market has a great potential compared to the international, since government does not give any subsidies to export mangoes."

Then there is Amba Utapadak Sahakari Sanstha Ltd who buys mangoes directly from farmers as per dozen at Rs 70 (4-grade), Rs 90 (3-grade), Rs 110 (2-grade), Rs 140 (1-grade) and Rs 170 (A-grade). But, investigations found that the Sanstha sells these mangoes at Rs 225 (4-grade), Rs 250 (3-grade), Rs 275 (2-grade), Rs 300 (1-grade) and Rs 350 (A-grade) respectively, thereby cheating the poor farmers.