The Hindu Business Line : AP to set up e-choupals for chillies, turmeric

THE Andhra Pradesh Government, in association with ITC Ltd, will be establishing e-choupals for chillies and turmeric in the State as a public-private partnership initiative.

According to the State Secretary for Agriculture, Mr N. Ramesh Kumar, the details of the new initiative are currently being worked out and all formalities in this regard will be completed in three months.

The e-choupals for chillies and turmeric will be operated through the Rythu Mithra (farmers' friends) Groups in the State on the lines of those set up by ITC for soyabean farmers in Madhya Pradesh.

Mr Kumar told newspersons here on Tuesday that the State Government had also represented to the Centre that it would extend all facilities for the establishment of commodities futures market for chillies and turmeric and also for other major commercial crops produced in AP.

Emphasising that the State Government was alive to the needs of the farming community, he said a comprehensive scheme had been formulated for ensuring remunerative prices to the chilli farmers.

The scheme, approved by the Union Government on March 9, envisaged purchase of an initial quantity of 30,000 tonnes of chillies jointly by the NAFED and the AP Marketing Federation (Markfed). An amount of Rs 105 crore was earmarked for this purpose. Non-FAQ (fair average quality) chillies would also be purchased under market intervention scheme at a minimum price of Rs 2,300 per quintal.

Similarly, Mr Kumar said, efforts were being made for the export of maize produced in the State. There was a steep increase in the production of maize in the State this year while the domestic consumption of the commodity declined on account of a crisis in the poultry industry following bird flu scare.

He said that Markfed, Food Corporation of India and the State Civil Supplies Corporation had jointly procured 2.7 lakh tonnes of maize worth Rs 165 crore during the kharif season.

About 9,500 tonnes of maize was also purchased with relaxed specification at a cost of Rs 6.21 crore. An additional 1-lakh tonnes of maize was expected to be procured by the three organisations during the current rabi season.

Now, NAFED has come forward to export 1-lakh tonnes of maize to Bangladesh and other countries. The State Government had urged the Centre to give approval for NAFED to export maize procured in the State.

Mr Kumar said the prices of agricultural commodities in the current year were generally remunerative and, hence, the farmers in the State had not felt the need to utilise the facilities extended under the Rythu Bandhu Pathakam (RBP).

Under the RBP, the farmers could deposit their produce in the godowns of agricultural market committees and take 75 per cent of the value of the produce as loan. No interest would be charged on the loan for a period of 90 days. Meanwhile, the farmers have the liberty to sell their produce whenever there was a rise in prices.

As the prices were remunerative, only 10,378 farmers have utilised RBP facilities this year as against 20,414 farmers last year.

Accordingly, the loan assistance extended to farmers had also declined to Rs 41.06 crore in the current year from Rs 73.67 crore last year.

Apart from chillies and maize, Mr Kumar said, the State Government had taken various initiatives to ensure remunerative prices to the producers of paddy, green gram, black gram, bajra, onions and tomatoes.

The Markfed and the State Civil Supplies Department, for which the Government had provided a Rs 100-crore crisis- management fund, have stepped into the market to stabilise the prices of these commodities.

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