Vegetable Prices Shoot Up But Farmers Get Peanuts In Mandis

Sehore (Madhya Pradesh): The vegetable prices are skyrocketing in the market, but the farmers are not getting proper rates at Mandis in the district. The situation has come to such a pass that they are not even getting the cost of growing vegetables. This has happened at a time when the prices of vegetables in the market are skyrocketing.

The prices which the farmers are getting have forced many of them to feed vegetables to cattle. This is the reason why the farmers have demanded a minimum support price for vegetables, too.

According to reports, some traders are paying lower prices for the vegetables they are procuring from the farmers. A farmer from Badi Mugawali village Surendra Kushwana said coriander leaf was selling for Rs 2 a kg, cauliflower for Rs 4 a kg, tomato for Rs 5 a kg, Palak Rs 3 a kg, runner bin (Sem) Rs 5 a kg and carrots Rs 20 a kg.

A farmer from Jamni Padli village, Peer Singh Thakur, who grew runner bins and brought his produce to Mandi for selling, said nobody was ready to pay more than Rs 5 a kg.

The seeds of vegetables are very costly. The cost of the seeds of cauliflower is between Rs 25,000 and Rs 1, 00,000 a kg. Similarly, 50 grams of tomato seeds are available for Rs 800, and 250 grams of radish seeds are available for Rs 750.  

Fifty grammes of Palak seeds cost a farmer Rs 100, and half a kg coriander seeds are available for Rs 350. Similarly, the seeds of other vegetables are also costly. The cost of watering the farmland, fertilisers and pesticides is also high.  

A farmer from Jamonia village Bhagwan Singh said that the prices of seeds were high, but those of the produce were low, so growing vegetables had become a problem. This is the reason why the farmers are demanding minimum support price (MSP) for vegetables.