Revolutionising
Marketing
In
an effort to modernise horticulture marketing, NDDB invests in an
alternative vegetable and fruit auction set-up that offers advantages
including a state-of-the-art cold storage that is believed to be the
largest in the country
To
give shape to the country’s first fruit and vegetable auction market,
immense construction activity is underway, 35 km to the east of Bangalore
on the Whitefield-Hoskote highway. Spread over 60 acres of land, Safal
Fruit And Vegetable Auction Market (SAM) is an effort to provide transparency
and a level playing field to both the farmer and the wholesaler by
bringing them on the same business platform. An initiative of the
Mother Dairy Food and Vegetable Limited (MDFVL), SAM comprises three
distinct components: backward linkage, forward linkage and infrastructure.
Backward
Linkage
Backward
linkage is a three-tiered approach that focuses on, growth areas at
tier one, where farmers’ associations are being formed. At present
there are 150 such fruit and vegetable associations. These associations
are informal co-operatives or self help groups, and do not fall under
the State Co-operative Act.
Each
farmers’ association is headed by an elected President, a Secretary
and has a Board. To become a member of such a producer association,
a farmer has to grow a minimum of one-tonne produce on his farm. Producer
associations have come up in Bijapur, Bagalkot, Chitradurga, Dharwad,
Koppal, Bellary, Davangere, Haveli amongst others.
At
tier-two, collection centres have been set up. One collection centre
serves several producer associations and forms an important link between
the growth areas and the markets. It is here that all the produce
is collected, cleaned, sorted and graded. This is an important intermediary
step before the produce gets ready for auction. The cleaning, sorting
and grading actually serves a dual purpose. It enables the farmer
to know exactly the quality of his produce and thus its value whereas
it enables the trader to bid according to the quality of the produce
for which he pays a uniform price.
Cleaning,
sorting and grading of produce at the collection centres is categorised
as A, B and C. This is a four-tiered check and visually done as per
the already stated criteria.
After
this process is over, a quality check is done randomly to ensure that
the produce is ready for the market. If there is a problem in the
grading, then a re-sampling is done. If the defects persist, then
the produce is downgraded. These defects are also graded in three
categories – minor, major and serious, which naturally have stringently
laid down ‘permissible limits’.
Crop
Planning
India
has for long been an ‘inside out’ economy which essentially means
that whatever was manufactured was sold to the consumer. Post the
de-regulation of the economy, the customer increasingly became the
focal point and we have gradually turned into a buyer’s market.
Amazingly,
this is happening in the field of agriculture too. Through centuries
we have believed that fruits and vegetables are seasonal. But in a
country having 15 agro-climatic zones, we could have our choice of
vegetables whenever we want. The trick here lies in managing distribution.
The National Database that is being put into place will enable..
contd...
TO
READ FURTHER... SUBSCRIBE TO
YOUR COPY TODAY!!!
