The initial euphoria that was built up after the Marketing Department conducted supervised open auctions has begun to wane. Mango farmers are saying that “injustice continues to be meted out to them.”
Traders, who were till this season keeping the prices low with their “secret handshake” system for fixing prices, were now allegedly forming into “syndicates”.
The Marketing Department banned the secret handshake system and all traders began participating in open auctions. The price of Banginapalli mango at the Nunna Mango Market made news when it hit Rs. 37,500 a tonne. On that particular day, the price of the fruit was higher at the market than in wholesale markets in Hyderabad. The farmers are alleging that the price of one tonne of mango was less by Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 because of the “unfair practices” of the traders. In the earlier ‘secret handshake’ system of price fixation, the rates suddenly spiked at the beginning of the season.
This induced the farmers to harvest the fruit and rush it to the market. Because of the glut that was “meticulously engineered” by the traders, the prices crashed and the farmers lost out heavily. The farmers could not break this “vicious cycle.” But this year, there was no such glut in the market owing open auction system.
“Every year I sell mango in the same shop out of habit. I cannot change it because the traders have formed into a syndicate. Because of the open auction system the traders have increased the ‘wastage’ (referred to as “sootu” in market jargon) from 60 kg per tonne to 100 kg. The traders are doing this openly and are giving us a bill for it. I don’t want to go to the authorities because the traders will definitely victimise me,”said Nunna farmer Durga Prasad (name changed).
Because of the open auction system the traders have increased the from 60 kg per tonne to 100 kg. The traders are doing this openly and are giving us a bill for it. I don’t want to go to the authorities with it because the traders will definitely victimise me. It is not sufficient if I am the only person questioning the system
Durga Prasad (name changed)
Nunna farmer
The farmers are alleging that the price of one tonne of mango was less by Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000 because of the “unfair practices” of the traders