Vegetable prices have remained nearly constant for the past decade at Rythu Bazaars, data sourced from Rythu Bazaar website shows. Except for a brief bump in 2017 when tomato prices touched ₹ 85 during summer, the prices have fluctuated in a narrow band of ₹6 and ₹20, occasionally going up to ₹30. What this means for farm income can be easily guessed.
“Vegetable prices, even for a perishable item like tomatoes, are a product of demand and supply. When both are nearly constant, the price will remain constant. The produce that reaches Hyderabad is not just local. Farmers from far flung districts like Madanapalle, Vizag and Chittoor also get their produce here. That benefits the consumers who pay between ₹10 and ₹14 per kilo for tomatoes,” says B. Babu, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Rangareddy.
At the Rythu Bazaar in Mehdipatnam, the buzz begins early in the morning with farmers bringing their produce in wicker baskets or neatly packed in colourful plastic tubs. At around 9 a.m., the estate officer goes and with a piece of chalk, marks the prices on the green signboard. It sets off a noisy cacophony as the farmers and traders begin an earnest conversation. As the shoppers troop in, it is business time as the farmers disappear and the traders take charge. “I have been bringing my vegetables from Chevella for the past five years. I don’t remember getting more than ₹ 10 per kilo for tomatoes. Sometimes, I have sold by number of baskets without being aware of the number of kilos,” says Bharat Reddy, who cultivates tomatoes on his one-acre patch.
Farm labour
The near-flat vegetable prices have had their impact on farm labour as well, as can been seen from a recent Reserve Bank of India paper ‘Rural Wage Dynamics in India: What Role does Inflation Play?’ It used farm and non-farm wages as a take off point: “There has been a sustained sluggishness in rural wage growth in the more recent period (post 2012-13), with the fall in agricultural wage growth being higher than non-agricultural wages.”
“For agriculture produce, even the cost is not being covered. Last year, there was big buzz about chilli prices. India’s contribution to the world chilli production is 37% with the two Telugu states contributing 57%. The output per acre has remained constant and the sale price has also remained constant for most vegetables aggravating farm sector distress,” says Sarampally Malla Reddy of All India Kisan Sabha.
“Wholesale prices are being dictated by six big corporates who are able to control the price as they are the main canalising agencies for both import and export of agricultural produce,” says Mr. Reddy.
The low prices has also meant that the farmers are being left to their own devices as they can no longer afford to purchase inputs required to raise farm output. “Tomato seeds cost ₹ 1 lakh per kilo. Farmers who cannot afford these are using old seeds for growing their crops. This is further lowering the yield. While the farm inputs have kept pace with inflation rising steadily, the price that the farmers are getting has not. This is leading to farm distress, reducing farmers to subsistence level,” says Narasimha Reddy Donthi, an agriculture policy expert.
