Centre forms panel to reduce gap between farm to fork in perishables

Agriculture minister suggests shared transport costs between Centre, states to reduce consumer prices for perishable goods like tomatoes, while also proposing agricultural reforms for small-scale farm

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Agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today said that the Centre has formed a committee to ensure that the gap between the price farmers receive and the rates consumers pay for perishable commodities, such as tomatoes, is reduced.

“Tomato is grown in the village, but its rate increases when it reaches the cities. If the Centre and the state together bear the cost of transportation, then city dwellers will get cheaper vegetables, and the farmer will get a better price,” Chouhan told reporters on the sidelines of the annual rabi conference here today.

The minister's comments come in the wake of spiralling prices of perishable commodities such as onions and tomatoes, with the latter selling at around Rs 100 per kg.

Recently, a working paper by the Reserve Bank of India showed that tomatoes are among the crops that receive the smallest share of every rupee a consumer spends on their purchase.

The paper estimates that farmers' share of every rupee that the consumer spends is around 33.5 per cent for tomatoes, 36 per cent for onions, and 37 per cent for potatoes.

In contrast, egg and chana farmers receive almost 75 per cent of every rupee spent by consumers in purchasing them, the working paper showed.

Meanwhile, Chouhan said that there is no shortage of fertiliser anywhere in the country and that the sudden spike in demand is due to the long duration of transport, which is being sorted out.

He said that both the Centre and the states together should experiment on how to create a model farm.

“Work should be done on how farmers can carry out farming on one, two, or two-and-a-half acres of land. Many farmers have said that they earn well on one acre. Experiments should be done in different states. We have to change the traditional form of farming,” Chouhan said.

He said that since the start of the Modi government’s third term in office, around 2.5 million new farmers have been added to the flagship PM KISAN scheme.

He said steps should also be taken to make better use of the network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

“These (KVKs) are not controlled from one place. Some are run by ICAR, some by universities, and some by the states. There should be better coordination among them,” Chouhan said.

Centre ups foodgrains production target for 2024-25 by 2.71 %

The Central government has set a target of producing 341.55 million tonnes of foodgrains in the 2024-25 (July to June) crop year which is 2.71 per cent more than the actual production of 2023-24 (as per the latest estimate). Within, this pulses production is targeted at 29.90 million tonnes, up almost 19 per cent from the actual production of 2023-24, oilseeds production at 44.75 million tonnes which is 11.37 per cent more than this year's production, and maize production at 40 million tonnes which is 5.85 per cent more than this year.

Foodgrains production 2023-24 and target 2024-25

Crops	Target 2024-25	Actual 2023-24*	% Change
Rice	136.3	137.82	-1.12
Wheat	115	113.29	1.49
Maize	40	37.66	5.85
Total Coarse Cereals	42.25	35.53	15.91
Total Shree Ann	18.1	17.57	2.93
Total Pulses	29.9	24.24	18.93
Total Foodgrains	341.55	332.29	2.71
Total Oilseeds	44.75	39.66	11.37
Sugarcane	470	453.15	3.59
Cotton**	35	32.52	7.09
Jute & Mesta#	10.45	9.69	7.27

Source: Government of India

Note: The crop year runs from July to June

*As per the latest advanced estimate

**In million bales (1 bale=170 kgs)

# In million bales (1 bale=180 kgs)