1. Himachal Pradesh MARKET INTERVENTION TO ENSURE REMUNNERATIVE PRICES
National conference on Agriculture for Kharif campaign th February, 2014.

2. Introduction
Agriculture sector provides direct employment to about 69% of the main working population in the State. Contribution from the Agriculture and allied sectors account for nearly 20% of the total state domestic product. Agriculture sector has experienced spectacular development due to progressive policy of Government and the adoption of improved/scientific production technology by the farmers. There was a great increase in the marketable surplus. Consequently the farmers were not getting remunerative price for their produce. For this purpose market intervention is essential to ensure the remunerative prices.

3. Today, Himachal Pradesh has emerged as an important fruit & vegetables growing State in the country. The state is providing excellent quality of temperate fruits like apple, pear, stone fruits, nuts, etc. and sub-tropical fruits like mango, litchi, guava, citrus fruits etc. new fruits crops like-kiwi, strawberry, olive, hazelnuts etc. have been introduced in recent years, Besides flowers, vegetables, mushrooms, hops, honey, tea, medicinal and aromatic plants etc. are also being grown in the state.
The Agro climatically the state is divided in to four zone.

4. Agro climatic zone of the State
Name of zone
Elevation in meters above Sea level
% Geographically area
% Cultivated area
Major Crops grown
SHIWALIK HILL ZONE (SubTropical, Sub mountain and low hills)
35%
40%
Wheat. Maize, Paddy, Black, Gram, Sugarcane, Mustard, Potato, Vegetables, Pulses etc.
MID HILL ZONE (Sub humid Mid hills)
32%
37%
Wheat, Maize, Barley, Black Gram, Beans and Paddy Pulses and Forages ,off season vegetables, Ginger, seed production of cauliflower & root crops

5. Name of zone
Elevation in meters above Sea level
% Geographically area
% Cultivated area
Major Crops grown
HIGH HILL ZONE (Wet Temperate High hills)
35%
21%
Wheat, Barley, Lesser, Millets, Pseudo-cereals (Buckwheat and Amaranthus), Maize, Rice and Potato etc.
COLD DRY ZONE (Dry Temperate High Hills)
About 2200 8% 2%
Wheat, Barley, Rajmash, Pseudo cereals like Buckwheat and Amaranthus. It is ideally suited to the production of quality seed potato, temperate and European type of vegetables and their seeds, seed potato and peas seed.

6. In zone, III & IV farmers are growing off season vegetables which are marketed in the within state and adjoining plains of the country. The present status of area, production of vegetables and fruits marketable surplus is as under:

7. Vegetable production
Vegetable production has increased form M tonnes during to 5,30,000 tonnes during & lac tonnes during It further increased during to 13,56,600 MT Major vegetables include Peas, French bean, Cauliflower, Root Crops, Potato, Cucurbits, Onion, Garlic, Capsicum, Tomato, Cauliflower, Cabbage, etc. Area and production of different vegetables in the state is as under:

8. Crop-wise Vegetable production:
Area (Hac.)
Production (M.T)
Tomato
9944
388426
9870
392061
9930
413709
Peas
22823
254177
23672
274032
23668
280231
Cabbage
4513
144233
4349
141087
4387
149671
Cauliflower
3002
60701
4180
91640
4351
101710
Beans
3013
35789
3295
39157
3436
40879
Capsicum
2136
32092
2027
31670
2072
34132
Other vegetables
19644
353479
20575
969647
21021
377716
Total
65075
67968
68865

9. Fruit production .
The agro-climatic conditions of Himachal Pradesh are extremely suitable for growing different varieties of fruits. Apple is the most important amongst all. The peak marketing season for apple is August to September year. During 2001, the apple production was 2, 75,036 MT alone out of total fruit production of MT Apart from this, there is vast potential of growing other temperate fruits. The area under fruits was 792 hac in with total production of 1200 tonnes which has increased drastically to 2.08 Lac hac. With total fruit production of lac M tonnes during 2010.

10. Area and production of fruit crops
Area (Hac.)
Production (M.T)
Apple
101485
892112
103644
275036
106440
412395
Pears
7370
32075
7333
11760
7283
25212
Peach
5182
9527
5181
5101
5159
11276
Mango
39194
31463
39568
28972
39828
50001
Orange
8621
17849
8554
13889
8609
13214
Others
49443
44795
50294
38065
50984
Total
211295
214574
372823
218303
555708

11. The marketable surplus of vegetables
Annually revenue generated through export
Peas 93
Crores
Tomato 95
Beans 94
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Capsicum

12. The marketable surplus of fruit crops ( out of state) (in boxes of 20 kg each)
Sr.No.
Name of the Market 1
Delhi 2
Chandigarh 3
Kalka
9901
14844
23270 4
Ludhiana
81865
122471
199455 5
Jalandhar
12377
18556
33243 6
Amritsar
14845
26594 7
Luck now
34654
51957
93079 8
Ambala 9
Moga
20421
30618
54850 10
Kolkata
49506
74225
132970

13. 152232 Sr.No. Name of the Market 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 11 Mumbai
228241
408883 12
Chennai
60645
90925
152916 13
Ahmadabad
43318
64947
116349 14
Agra
40843
61235
109700 15
Saharanpur
33417
50102
89755 16
Karnal
12377
18556
33243 17
Other markets
664003
963066
Total
1,23,76,587
1,85,57,549
3,32,42,556

14. The marketable surplus of other commercial crops .
Name of crop
Area
Production
Marketing seasons
Major Distract Of marketable surplus
Maize
3 Lac hectare
7.6 lac tonne
1st Spt. 15 Nov.
Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra and Kullu
Potato
14000 hectare
1.55 lac tonne
April-October, June-October Sept. December
Shimla, Kangra, Kinnaur, Chamba, Lahul Spiti and Sirmour
Ginger
2270 hectare
25500 tonnes
Sept. -December
Sirmour, Solan, Bilaspur and Shimla
Garlic
3339 hectare
44733 tonnes
April-June
Kullu, Mandi, Sirmour and Kangra

15. Marketing season of major crops
S.No.
Name of the crop
Marketing Season
APMC 1
Wheat
1st April-15th June
Sirmaur, Kangra, Una 2
Paddy
1st Oct.-30th Nov.
Sirmour, Mandi, Solan, Kangra, Chamba 3
Maize
1st Sept.-15th Nov.
Solan, Mandi, Kangra, Una, Hamirpur 4
Garlic
15th April-30th June
Solan, Kullu 5
Ginger
1st Oct.-15th January
Sirmaur 6
Tomato
20th June-15th Oct.
Solan, Shimla & Kinnaur, Kullu & Lahaul-Spiti, Mandi

16. S.No.
Name of the crop
Marketing Season
APMC 7
Apple
1st July-30th Oct.
Shimla & Kinnaur, Kullu & lahaul-Spiti, Mandi, Chamba 8
Off-Season Vegetables (Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli, Beans, Capsicum, etc.
1st April-30th June
Shimla & Kinnaur, Kullu & Lahaul-Spiti, Solan 9
Peas (Off-Season
Kullu & Lahaul-Spiti 10
Potato
1st Sept.-15th Nov.
Shimla & Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Kangra, Chamba 11
Cabbage
1st Feb.-31st March
Mandi, Kangra

17. Arrivals of fruits and vegetables in apmcs
Year
Vegetables in Qtls
Fruits in Qtls.
---
Apples-1,29,75392 Boxes (size 20/kg. Each)
( M.T.)

18. Present statues of marketing infrastructure
The H.P. State Agriculture Marketing Board has setup 54 market yards at various places in the state it is plan to expand the mostly infrastructure as per the requirement and availability of sources.

19. APMC’s and market sub yards
Sr.No.
|Name of the APMC
Principal Market Yard
No. Of Sub-Market Yards 1
Shimla & Kinnaur
Shimla 8 2
Hamirpur
Hamirpur (Dosarka) 3
Chamba
Chamba (Balupul) -- 4
Bilaspur 5
Kullu & Lahaul Spiti
Kullu 6
Mandi
Mandi (Kangni) 7
Kangra
Paonta-Sahib
Paonta Sahib 9
Solan 10
Una
Total
10 Nos 44

20. Market intervention 1. Farmer level 2. APMCs level
In order to ensure remunerative price for the major agricultural produce the market intervention activities divided into three categories.
Farmer level
APMCs level
Govt. level (State/Central sponsored
Scheme)

21. Farmer level
The producer is the main contributor of every situation. His participation is expected to make up a whole intervention. He has to keep all the factors in mind before the production. The following steps may help him.
Focus on day to day market information.
Short/long terms planning of produce as per demand.
Adoption of Scientific Cultivation Technique helps to reduce the cost of production.
Use of post harvest technology .
Focus on grading and value addition packing.

22. APMCs level
The farmer along with the return some times faces the problem of surplus production and he does not get sufficient pay for work. APMC becomes involved in that situation to improve or control it. . The points which are given may be valuable as further remarks. These factors may make the way easy. I these points are considered seriously we can not only ensure the farmers but can also gain his lost determination and confidence. In future the following plans are designed to achieve a long term aim or purpose. The mutual understanding will pave the way for the farmer. Finally with this collaboration and putting our full capacity in action will provide way and the fruitful results may be found.

23. Strengthening of marketing infrastructure In production areas through involvement of Agricultural Produce Market Committees, Co-operative, Small farmers groups in clusters and Private Sector will not only help farmers to get income through greater participation in a more efficient rural market & inclusive growth but provide further impact for diversification and bring more employment and prosperity in rural areas of Himachal Pradesh.

24. The availability of marketing infrastructure i. e
The availability of marketing infrastructure i.e. Small markets/collection centres in the production area will also solve the problems of marketing of produce in distant markets and they will save in term of cost of transportation, transit losses and miscellaneous charges.
Setting up more seasonal markets in production area after proper designing planning to handle the arrivals in efficient manner providing minimum facility of auction platform, storage, structure, grading and packing houses, public facilities etc.

25. Alternative marketing channels:
Direct marketing to consumers/retail chain/buyers i.e. Fair price shops at APMC level.
Farmers Markets ie. Apni Mandi
Contract farming
Contract farming involves agreement between producer and sponsoring agency (Buyer) for Future Trade .The price of the commodities is also decided by the both party at the time of agreement.
Popularization of Grading at producers’ level, value addition through primary processing and packaging

26. Modernization and expansion of existing yards providing therein grading and packing lines, repining chambers cold/CA stores, adequate auction platform and other facilities.
Empowerment of farmers through market information website, news paper, Doordarshan, Ticker Board,(agmarknet) SMS portal and documentation of success stories.
Integration and strengthening of Marketing network to curb malpractices and reduce paper work through automation of market operations.
Marketing through e-trading
Setting up more agro- based small processing units

27. Govt. level (State/Central sponsored Scheme)
Government intervenes through Minimum support Price (MSP). The MSP is ensured through procurement by central, state and cooperative agencies in the states. State governments have been alerted from time to time to make adequate arrangements to ensure MSP to farmers.

28. In addition, Government is implementing Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) for agricultural and horticultural commodities not covered under the Price Support Scheme. The MIS is implemented on the request of State/UT Government in order to protect the growers of these commodities from making distress sale in the event of bumper crop when the prices tend to fall below the cost of production.

29. Price Support scheme (PSS) and market intervention scheme (MIS), Minimum support price (MSP)
The Price Support Scheme (PSS) and Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) ensures remunerative prices to the growers and in case market prices fall below the MSP/MIS, central/state agencies Start the purchase operation by paying the MSP/MIS to the farmers.

30. State wise implementation of price sport scheme & Market intervention scheme (PSS AND MIS)
Commodities under PSS
Commodities under MIS
Andhra Pradesh
Milling copra, Cotton, Sunflower, Tur
Oil Palm, Chilly
Haryana
Sunflower, Mustard
Himachal Pradesh
Apple C Grade, Kinnow, Malta, Santra, Galgal, Mango
Karnataka
Ball Copra, Sunflower, Safflower, Tur
Oil Palm, Arecanut
Kerala
Milling Copra, Ball Copra
Black Pepper
Madhya Pradesh
Urad, Mustard
Maharashtra
Tur, Sunflower, Safflower
Mizoram
Chillies, Ginger, Passion Fruit, Chow-chow (Iskut)
Rajasthan
Gram, Mustard
Onion, Garlic
Uttar Pradesh
Groundnut, Mustard
Potato
Uttarakhand
Apple C Grade
West Bengal
Sesamum

31. Minimum Support Price (MSP) Wheat and paddy are two major agricultural commodities procured by the National cooperative marketing federation (NAFED), Food corporation of India (FCI) under MSP in order to have sufficient buffer stock from food security point of view and to feed the public distribution system. Procurement through MSP is not done in all the states like in case of wheat it is mostly done form the states of Punjab and Haryana whereas in other states it is almost negligible.

32. In Punjab and Haryana farmers are able to sell their surplus wheat and paddy at MSP but this is not true in case of farmers of all other stages. The reasons are difference in procurement mechanism by the procurement agencies like procurement through commission agents in some states whereas provision of direct procurement from farmers in other states. In states where there is provision of direct procurement from farmers, no significant procurement actually takes place.

33. Efficiency of market intervention scheme (MIS)
The MIS in the state of Himachal Pradesh is being implemented through State agencies of HPMC & HIMFED. The fruits like apple, Kinnow, Malta and Santra were taken up under the scheme during the year Later on Galgal was included during the year and for mango MIS was implemented during 1998.

34. Coverage of districts under mis for different fruits
Apple
Kinnow, Malta and Santra
Mango
Shimla
Una
Kullu
Solan
Mandi
Sirmour
Kangra
Kinnaur
Bilaspur
Chamba
Hamirpur
Lahul Spiti

35. Period of implementation
The scheme is not open throughout the year and is open only during the harvesting and marketing period of fruits covered under the scheme. The duration of operation of scheme has been presented in the table.
Name of Fruit
|Duration of MIS (Each year)
Apple
July 20 to October 31
Santra and Malta
November 21 to February 15
Kinnow, Galgal and Mango
July 1 to August 15

36. Price announcement of mis
The procurement of fruit under the scheme is strictly at the price announced and notified by the state government beforehand. The procurement cost is being born by the administrative department i.e. Horticulture department.

37. Cost of fruit procurement under MIS
Name of fruit
Cost of procurement (Rs./Kg.)
Apple
6.50/kg.
Kinnow, Malta and Santra
B-6.50/kg.
C-6/kg.
Galgal
5.50/kg.
Mango
Seedling-5.50/kg.
Grafting-6.50/kg.

38. Details of procurement rate, quantity procured and dispatch of apple under MIS
Year
Procurement Rate (Rs. Per kg.)
Quantity procured in M.T.
Procurement in bags
No. Of bags dispatched to market/processing
4.75
29427
490448
5.25
45741
762350
659650
912
15200
111154
931260
5664
94400
93367
6.00
11822
197033 *
6.50
34229
570483

39. District wise procurement of apples and value of procured apples under MIS
S. No.
Name of District
2011
2013
Procurement Rs.5.25 per kg
Procurement Rs.6.00 per kg
Qty.Procured (in M.T)
Value of Procured apples (in lakh Rs.)
Qty. Procured (in M.T.)
Qty. Procur3ed (in M.T.) 1
Shimla
283.44
669.53 2
Kullu
9.10
21.74
74.13 3
Mandi
72.120
3.79
12.68
75.64 4
Kinnaur
15.840
0.83
85.800
5.15
15.36 5
Chamba
0.000
0.00 --
64.176
4.17 6
Sirmour
2.880
0.17

40. S. No.
Name of District
2011
2012
2013
Procurement Rs.5.25 per kg
Procurement Rs.6.00 per kg
Qty. Procured (in M.T)
Value of Procured apples (in lakh Rs.)
Qty. Procured (in M.T.)
Qty. Procur3ed (in M.T.) 7
Lahaul & Spiti
3.360
0.18
0.840
0.05
2.520
0.16 8
Kangra
0.000
0.00 -- 9
Solan
Grand Total
297.34
709.32

41. Issues/problems of mis in the state
Payments are not always in cash, farmers are obliged to accept inputs like fertilizers, packing materials and insecticides etc as kind payment.
During the years of high production, significant amount of procured apples is wasted and destroyed. This is a burden on state exchequer.
The quantum of apple used for processing is low and only apple procured b y HPMC is being used for processing.
Most importantly, this is a loss making preposition for the state and as such has large scope for improvement in management of the scheme.

42. Suggestions:
The quality of MIS produce needed to be improved so that problem of shortage of buyers is eliminated to some extent.
Arrangements of vehicles at the time to peak season need to be improved so that produce can be handled safely, with low cost and well in time.
There is a need of finalizing the auction place for selling of the produce and date and time of auction well in advance. This information can be passed on to interested traders through advertisement.

43. Handling charges need to area specific so that the collection of produce especially in those areas where collection centres are away from road head is facilitated.
Opening of new processing units is the immediate need in the state. With opening of these units MIS produce can be disposed off efficiently. If such arrangement are not made urgently the time may come when the scheme may become unviable.
There should be equal distribution of collection centres to both the agencies so that competition between these does not arise.

44. The positive effects of market intervention
Assured returns
Avoid distress sale
Encourage farming
Ensure Food Security
Better agri-marketing through sorting, grading, packing and levelling
Innovative marketing practices
Selling through APMC market yards, co-operatives, direct marketing or through E-commerce
Ensure disposal of produce
Promote processing

45. Issue Monoculture practices Distort Competition
Excessive use of Natural Resources.

46. Conclusion
Market intervention is required for major surplus commodities of respective states. Like in case of HP major surplus of fruits and vegetables which are highly perishable. State/central Govt. agencies can procure surplus fruits and vegetables for processing by the PSUs and processed products can be sold through Fair Price shops, PDS etc. Market intervention for perishable, semi-perishable commodities like potato, Cauliflower, tomato, ginger, garlic, paddy, wheat, pulses etc should also be in place to prevent distress sale by the farmers.

47. Boon for farmer when excessive production.
Focus on diversification and market orientation
Intrusion of private players
More focus on perishables & semi-perishables

48. Thanks