While the stocks of wheat and rice were burgeoning, there was no institutionalised mechanism for the marketing of livestock feed, the Grain Foundation said in a letter to Agriculture Minister Nistish Kumar. It alleged that farmers were fleeced by middlemen who buy their stock at very low prices, hoard it and knowing that there are no imports, later make huge profits by selling at unreasonably high prices. At present, the corn which the farmer sold at Rs 3,200 per tonne was being delivered to the end users at Rs 4,500 per tonne, it claimed.

It claimed import duties did not benefit the growers and after their removal, the middlemen would not be able to sell above the international price and also pay the farmer a good price. The letter said coarse cereal farmers had not benefited from the agriculture policies of the government and since they had small land holdings, they often did not have enough money to buy seeds and other inputs for the next crop. Food Corporation of India , which has the mandate to buy coarse grains, did not do so in absence of the much-needed infrastructure. It said the coarse cereal production had become static.

(PTI)