In a bid to create a situation wherein farmers can wait for the right time to sell their produce, the Karnataka government has decided to introduce warehouse-based marketing system for agricultural produce from this year.
Announcing this at a State-level seminar on ‘Low-cost production technologies for sustainable agriculture’, organised by the Institution of Agricultural Technologists, here on Saturday, Minister of State for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda said such an initiative was being taken for the fist time in the country.
Under the proposed system, farmers could store their produce in the warehouses and the government would issue receipts for the same. The farmers could sell the produce when they think that the prices are remunerative or even produce the receipts in banks to avail of loans, he said.
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At present, farmers bring their produce to agricultural produce marketing committee yards from distant places. As they cannot carry back the produce because of high transportation costs, they are forced to sell at whatever the prices are ruling for the day, Mr. Gowda said. He hoped that the proposed system of warehouse-based marketing would relieve the farmers from such a situation.
Capacity increased
To support the warehouse-based marketing system, the government had increased the warehousing capacity for agricultural produce from the earlier 6 lakh tonnes to about 15 lakh tonnes in the last two years.
The proposed system is expected to help farmers to wait for the right price to sell their produce