Farm distress: Poor post-harvest management is the key problem

It is poor post-harvest management of farm produce, and not bumper production that is the real culprit

Reports of farmers destroying their crops of tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, garlic and other vegetables in the field or dumping them on the road because of abysmal returns is a disquieting commentary on the management of agricultural prices. Potatoes and onions had met with the same fate earlier. Milk farmers in Maharashtra, who last year poured their produce on roads, are now distributing it free outside offices in towns to draw the government’s attention towards unremunerative prices that do not cover even the production cost. Unsurprisingly, the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, an umbrella body of over 100 farmers’ organisations, has threatened to