First farmers' market out of APMC coming up in Delhi

Being set up by Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium; likely to start operations by Nov

The country’s first wholesale centre (mandi) for trading in fruit and vegetables outside the jurisdiction of an Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) is coming up at Alipur in north Delhi.

The aim is to begin operations by the end of November.

The city government had earlier notified the removal of fruit and vegetables from the list of APMC products. This allows legal trade in these outside an APMC, under the law. This first such mandi, termed a ‘kisan mandi’, is being set up by the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), a body under the Union ministry of agriculture.

“We have chosen NCDEX Spot, a spot exchange set up by the National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange, as a service partner which will help in backward and forward linkages,” said Pravesh Sharma, managing director of SFAC. “Under this project, we will bring consumers and farmers together. Trading will be based on samples and SFAC will ensure quality and quantity to bulk consumers, while guaranteeing payment to farmers.”

For retail consumers, fruit and vegetables from here would be sold through mobile vans.

A few months earlier, SFAC had invited bids in this regard. Six companies participated. These included NCDEX Spot, Basix and Reuters Market Light. NCDEX Spot’s chief executive, Rajesh Sinha, said: “We are tying up with farmers groups and also contacting bulk buyers like food processors, hotels and retail chains.”

With sale from here, the mark-up for retail consumers from what the farmer gets is expected to halve. Farmers, said Sinha, would also be able to send commodities directly from their farm or warehouse to a consumer's site. The growers would also be able to get 15-20 per cent more, he said, since middlemen would be absent.

Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh are other places where such mandis are possible — they either do not have APMCs or have delisted fruit and vegetables from their APMC law.