AGRICULTURE
The recent rise of retail prices of vegetables is linked mainly to the disparity between demand and supply of the commodities, but researchers in agriculture believe there may be multiple dimensions to assess the issue of production and its prices.
It has taken a long time to normalise, and consumers have been feeling the burden of buying these important dietary items during the current months. Researchers and growers suggest that strengthening the value chain system is the only way out to resolve the issue of volatile prices of essential food items, which affect the public negatively.
Information collected through researchers sitting in concerned government departments, growers and markets shows that the implementation of policies is difficult, and this “market phenomenon” is different. The system is not under control to deal with the issue and save consumers.
For instance, they pointed out that there are no criteria as to how much acreage can be cultivated for a certain crop - mainly major food and cash crops. Apart from this, influential farmers violate the system of crop cultivation, according to which some areas are declared restricted for the sake of maintaining balance in irrigation water and to avoid the possibility of salinity. Crops like paddy, sugar, cotton and others have designated areas for production on paper, however, on the ground, it does not happen according to the specifications and often farmers do not pay heed to such legal restrictions.
It was pointed out that this month fresh supplies of onions, tomatoes, and green chilli have started coming in to the markets from different producing areas, however, the prices of almost all the vegetables are too high. Most of the poor consumers cannot afford the highly priced vegetables, including onions, okra, and chillies.
Researchers who keep a close eye over such changes claim it was not a new phenomenon and this has been happening for a few years now. According to them, the provincial agriculture extension department made this observation six to seven years ago when the issue of rising vegetable prices came to the surface for the first time. The department followed up on it via surveys and identified gaps in the cultivation mechanism, crop pattern change, and also discovered violations by unaware growers. It was observed that many growers did not follow the set restrictions in crop cultivation, which were put in place to manage the system and produce as per the need of the market
For example, when the prices are high, growers cultivate onion on a larger piece of land to earn higher profits, especially if they had missed out the opportunity in the previous year. However, if there is a sudden drop in prices of onions they are reluctant to even cultivate the commodity on a small area. This creates huge gaps in demand and supply, and as a result, the government faces public annoyance.
The government institutions concerned with crop cultivation do not have information on how much food crops are being grown at a given time. The growers on the other hand do not have the exact information about the demand in the market. In case of surplus, there is no mechanism to deal with it. The market needs limited product with instant supply for consumption, export, processing etc. These disparities however always create more issues.
It does not come to the knowledge to the government's concerned institutions instantly that how much food crop is presently being cultivated? The growers do not have any idea the exact need of market for consumption. In case the product goes surplus, there is no mechanism to deal with it. The market needs limited product with instant supply for consumption, export, processing etc. That is the issue always creates disparity.
When the situation worsens the government realises, but it is too late. The need of the hour is to get things under control through policy mechanism and awareness among farmers about crop cultivation on identified zones and set limits.
Onion, tomato, chilli and other essential food items have its demand locally and abroad. Farmers have their traditional mechanism. Sometimes they cannot measure the phenomenon and cultivate land beyond its limit. But the market does not demand the commodity on such level. In fact, the issue of surplus product is debated every time and the researchers as well as authorities have not resolved it yet.
Mustafa Nangraj, a renowned researcher and trainer for growers associated with the provincial government's agriculture extension department, said Sindh has a different climate and in many cases it does not accept any outside seed variety of vegetables.
“We tried to introduce hybrid variety of white onion a few years back, but we failed. Then we conducted research to see how to improve the capacity of the local variety and found favourable results,” he said.
Currently, the onion crop is ready in some fields and close to ready in others. This produce will arrive in the market soon. Nangraj, while explaining the cultivation method said onion is cultivated more in the years, since the commodity remains in demand year-round. “Produce not yet ready, will pour into the market later. Thus, supply will continue most of the year. But due to lack of planning, the market gets upset and as a result, the poor consumers suffer the most,” he added.
Speaking about the volatility of prices, Nangraj said the high prices this year had inspired many growers, who were previously reluctant, to sow onions. “They may even fix a target to grow more onion next year, without realising the changing market dynamics,” he said.
Tomato crop faces the same dilemma. Those who cultivated tomatoes earlier are bringing their produce to the market, but the coastal area farmers are expected to market their produce by mid-November and to end it in early January. For the consumers, it is obviously favourable to see the product continuously in the market.
Last year in December, many farmers had wasted the ripe tomato crop in their fields because of low market value. They suffered huge losses due to the low price in the market and now are waiting to see how the price will sit in the local markets for this major food item used as a fruit and vegetable both.
Farmers from coastal areas, which is better suited for tomato cultivation, expect to profit from their produce in mid-November.
The current price of the commodity is Rs150 to Rs200 per kilogram at retailers. Tomato is a relatively short duration crop which gives high yield, depending on soil fertility, proper water, weather, temperature, and care. Due to its economic viability, growers always prioritise this crop and spare more land for cultivation.
Nangraj observed that the sudden decision to import some food items also creates problems for local producers at the time when the local product looks ripe and ready to pick for markets. The need is to strengthen collaboration within stakeholders to avoid this uncertainty.
The writer is a staff member
