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Redgram prices skyrocket
If the redgram farmers have every reason to smile, the common man has been feeling the pinch and bearing the brunt of soaring redgram (toor dal) prices in addition to their ‘onion tears’. At a time when the farmers are struggling to get a minimum support price (MSP) to their produce,
Warangal/Khammam: If the redgram farmers have every reason to smile, the common man has been feeling the pinch and bearing the brunt of soaring redgram (toor dal) prices in addition to their ‘onion tears’. At a time when the farmers are struggling to get a minimum support price (MSP) to their produce,
the redgram cultivators in both Warangal and Khammam districts are having a ball as the traders at the marketyard are purchasing the crop for a record price of Rs 9,725 per quintal this season due to low yield and dwindling cultivation of the crop.
MSP for the crop fixed at Rs 4,350 by the Commission for Agriculture Cost and Prices (CACP) for the current year was way behind the present market price. With rains playing truant at the crucial period of cultivation last year, the yield of the crop had come down drastically.
The misfortune of some farmers has come like a shot in the arm for those, who had kept their produce waiting for a good price. The small and marginal farmers had already marketed their produce at the beginning of the season in March. There’s a gradual fall in the cultivation of redgram for the last few years in both the districts. From around 10,000 hectares in 2011, the cultivation of the crop has come down to mere 2,000 hectares in 2014 in Warangal district.
The phenomenon is similar in Khammam district as well. While the average cultivation of the crop in the district is 5,017 hectares, the crop was grown in only 2,518 hectares last year. In the current year, it dwindled further to 1,663 hectares. “Despite our efforts, the farmers are not willing to change their mindset as they invariably favour sowing cotton hoping rich dividends,” Agriculture Officer V Bhaskar told The Hans India, stating that the opportunity is still there for farmers to cultivate redgram as an alternative crop till the August end.
“Never in the past, the price of redgram soared to as high as Rs 9,725 per quintal,” Assistant Marketing Officer (Khammam) Khader Babu said, pointing to Rs 5,700 per quintal in April. According to the civil supplies information, the redgram prices have been increased by 64 per cent compared to last year.
If the average price of redgram was Rs 73.64 per kg in August 2014, presently it was Rs 120 a kg. Meanwhile, the redgram retail price in the open market which hitherto varied around Rs 90 to Rs 120 per kg had risen to anywhere between Rs 140 to Rs 150 a kg. According to official sources, as the government was able to import redgram for as low as Rs 3,800 a quintal, it never really focused on encouraging the farmers to take up the cultivation of the crop.
District Supplies Officer Sandhya Rani said that they have plans to set up three centres, two in Warangal and one in Mahabubabad, to sell toor dal at a subsidised price of Rs 110 per kg. However, the facility is only for white ration card holders.Adilabad Market Yard Grade II secretary Kista Goud said, “For the last couple of months, the market yard hasn’t seen any trade activity of redgram.
The highest price the district recorded was Rs 7,200 a quintal. As of now, the retail price of toor dal is little over Rs 140 a kg. in the district. The traders in the region procure their stocks either from Nagpur or from Chhattisgarh.
By:Adepu Mahender
