FARMERS ARE ALWAYS CORNERED- MY EXPERIENCE WITH CABBAGE CULTIVATION  I took up cabbage cultivation in little less than 1.5 acres and the crop is really good. The estimated crop value at current wholesale rates is around 6.5 lakhs. For 90 day duration crop it’s very good yield in terms of expected realization. Discounting 10% commission, 7 % transportation, 5 % harvesting cost, 3% packing, loading, unloading and 5 % towards marketing expenses, so in total discounting 30% towards expenses and keeping cushion for price fluctuations I decided and sold my crop to local trader for Rs 2.75 laks. He harvested 1500 kgs initially and sold @Rs 25/kg excluding expenses. As the crop did not attain full maturity the weight is less and decided to wait for few more days. As the market is moving towards lower side he harvested few more bags yesterday and sold @ Rs 22/kg. As the produce is coming from Pune, Bangalore etc to different areas the market rates are not consistent resulting in hu...

FARMERS WOES CONTINUE - MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH SWEET CORN CULTIVATION  American corn popularly known as sweet corn which is very popular among youth and urban elite for its yummy taste left bitter memories for it grower. Sweet corn is 70 day crop and cost of cultivation is about Rs 25000/- acre excluding land lease. It needs good soils with abundant water and good crop management. I grew sweet corn in three acres and the crop was ready for harvest in third week of November. I was exploring organized market tie ups with professional organizations but met with no success. Final ended up with a agreement with local trader for 80000/3 acre crop and received token advance of Rs 5000/- As the crop attained maturity and ready for harvest the trader did not turn up and we had to plough the crop by investing another Rs 10000 for rotovator application with tractor, as there were no buyers . American corn is highly perishable and it can not be dried and used like other maize crop. ...

FARMERS ARE BEING TAKEN FOR RIDE- FIELD REALITIES  I met a farmer who sent 5 bags (150 kgs) bringal to Tenali municipal market from Kollipara village. In an auction it was sold for Rs 160/10 kgs. The farmer spent about Rs 300/- towards transport from village to mandi, Rs. 60/- hamali , Rs 20/- Asheel( market cess). Rs 100 to 150 is farmer expenditure if he goes to market for monitoring the transaction. Farmer paid Rs. 250/- as commission @10% on the sale consideration of Rs 2500/- . For a sale of Rs 2500/- expenditure is about Rs 750/- and it’s working out to 30%. From sale price of Rs 16/kg, farmer spent about Rs 5/kg as marketing expenditure. As all the expenditure is fixed cost except commission in case of less realizations the marketing cost will become as high as 50%. Even after charging hefty commission of 10% from farmers , the agents try to give advantage to the traders by my managing auctions with eye lid movements etc and exploit the farmers. I was told the...

FAMILY ENGAGEMENT - PRODUCTIVE AGRICULTURE Today I happened to be be in  my village Kollipara, Krishna Delta in Guntur dist known for its highly fertile soils with abundant water resources. My interactions with few farmers from Reddy community revealed that own farming is uneconomical and many of them are leasing out lands to farmers from SC and BC communities. It is interesting to note that for this new generation farmers ,agriculture is giving decent livelihood other than elevated social status I.e., agri labourer to cultivator. It is possible because of involvement of their entire family in agri operations, resulting in better productivity and operational efficiency. In upper class communities like Reddys, Kammas etc who are traditionally farmers, the entire womenfolk is almost out of agri operations and men seldom work. The over dependency on external labour resulting in lower productivity and inefficient operations resulting in lower  production. My intera...