The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Sprouting seeds of a market revolution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jan 02, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Sprouting seeds of a market revolution

Anil Kumar Sastry

Horticulturists can reap a stupendous harvest if they adopt a scientific approach

New avenues: With mobile phones and Internet, farmers can know the prices in other markets and plan movement of the produce accordingly.

BANGALORE: Modern means of communication and improved road network appear to have helped farmers and merchants alike in finding lucrative markets beyond Bangalore for vegetables and fruits.

“Rapid urbanisation (in Bangalore) has had little impact on cultivation of vegetables and fruits. Confined to 25 km radius of Bangalore, the vegetable cultivation belt has now swollen to a 200 km radius, covering the districts of Ramanagara, Mandya, Mysore, Kolar and Hassan,” according to K. Manjunath, a wholesale vegetable merchant in the Kalasipalyam vegetable market.

Mr. Manjunath, the third generation in the business, is a science graduate and has been making efforts to bring a scientific approach in cultivation and marketing of vegetables and fruits. He said: “Not all the greens cultivated in surrounding districts land in Bangalore markets. Thanks to mobile and Internet penetration, farmers come to know the prevailing prices in outside markets, including Mumbai, Chennai and other cities of Tamil Nadu and plan movement of the produce accordingly.”

However, according to Balakrishna, a retail vegetable vendor, it is mainly the merchants who push loads of vegetables outside Bangalore market for better prices.

Bangalore’s vegetable requirement is 2,000 tonnes a day and the produce grown in neighbouring districts is not less than 8,000 tonnes, Mr. Manjunath noted. Had all the produce landed in Bangalore alone, the prices ought to have crashed but it is not soWhat the government could do to ensure steady supply of the produce is by way of scientific seed forecasting and supply of quality seeds, Mr. Manjunath pointed out. Translated, this means that the sale of a specific quantity of seeds results in cultivation of a specific quantity of produce. Knowing the market requirement for each season, the government should fix a maximum limit for the sale of seeds and come out with regular seed bulletins on the day’s sale of seeds. If the sale exceeds the maximum limit, the farmer would understand he has to opt for cultivation of a different vegetable. Thus, the chances of farmers growing in excess of the market requirement and then dumping the produce in frustration over price crash could be avoided.

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