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The major as well as minor agricultural market yards in Andhra Pradesh have been badly hit by demonetisation and some of them are not functioning. Many are open, but transactions are negligible. Two of the major market yards — the jaggery market at Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district, the biggest in the State and South India, and the chilli market yard at Guntur, the biggest in the country — have been hit, the former badly.
The jaggery market yard has been closed from Thursday. Every day 13,000-15,000 lumps of jaggery arrive at the market during and payments are made in lakhs of rupees to farmers, but after demonetisation, the merchants have been unable to pay farmers and the market had to be shut down.
Lack of liquidity “Banks are not allowing us to draw more than ₹24,000 and the lack of liquidity has hit transactions. We are helpless and unless something is done all will suffer an irreparable loss. Labour in the market yard is also badly hit. A way has to be found to address the problem,” says Buchi Raju, a leading jaggery merchant at Anakapalle.
“Arrivals are of the order of 10,000 lumps of jaggery per day (each lump weighing roughly 16 kg). This is the biggest jaggery market yard after Hapur in Uttar Pradesh. We are in a panic.” He also apprehends that sugarcane may be diverted to sugar factories. Transactions at the Guntur chilli market yard have also been hit and arrivals have halved. However, this is the off-season and the arrivals in the marketyard gain momentum only from January, after the arrival of the new crop. But, merchants as well as farmers are worried and are hopeful that the liquidity position will improve by that time.
Banana market also hit At Ravulapalem banana market in East Godavari district, transactions have fallen 25-30 per cent.
“This year, yields have declinedand the prices have also come down. Demonetisation has come at the most inopportune time for us. We are paying in the old notes. Some are accepting and some farmers are not doing so. No farmer accepts a cheque, even though the Chief Minister so eloquently pleads for cashless transactions,” says Sathi Babu, a merchant.
sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in
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