If you happen to drive through the Pune-Nashik highway early morning, you cannot miss the open auction market for tomatoes near Narayangaon. A bunch of young agricultural graduates came up with this model, which has succeeded in breaking the hold of commission agents over farmers. Around 1,200 tonne of tomatoes are sold here everyday, with the turnover touching R150 crore this year, says Shriram Gadhave, president, All-India Vegetable Growers Association and president of the Shivneri Group, Junnar. At present, tomatoes are grown on 10,000 acre and the goal is to increase the plantation area to 18,000 acre by June, Gadhave said. The tomato season lasts from June to October every year.
The Narayangaon pattern of tomato farming and auction in Maharashtra has begun to inspire farmers in other parts of the state and a similar attempt was made in Amravati. However, this model will take some time to succeed, Gadahave said.
Usually, agricultural produce is sold through commission agents and the farmer does not know the price at which a deal happens between the agent and the trader. He has to believe what the agent tells him and be happy with the pittance he gets a month later. But, at the Narayangaon market, the trader or his representative comes to the farmer and quotes a price. There are no middlemen involved and a deal is struck. The farmer gets his money right on the spot. Today, farm income has more than doubled in the region while the Junnar APMC, under which the open auction market functions as a sub-market, has succeeded in increasing its income five times in four years. Today, some 75 villages in two talukas of Junnar are part of this effort.
“The turnover of the tomato market has increased from R3 crore in 2004 to more than R150 crore this year,” said Gadhave, president of the Shivneri group and the national president of the All-India Vegetable Growers’ Association. Gadhave took the initiative of developing the market and is making sure that it survives in the midst of middlemen-controlled markets. He prepared 600-700 farmer groups of 20 people who work on supply of tomatoes to Pune, Ahmednagar, Thane and Raigad. Around 200 truckloads of tomatoes also go to the North everyday, he said.
Bapusaheb Gaiwakwad, a tomato farmer in the region, says his income has increased nearly three times because he ends up saving on transport costs and he can decide his price or hold onto his produce if he feels the time is not right. Gaikwad grows tomatoes on 5 acres and supplies 100 crates (20 kg per crate) every couple of days to the market. He gets an income of around R10 lakh from this crop alone.
Due to its specific climatic conditions, Narayangaon supplies more than 60% of tomatoes consumed in the country during the four months of the rainy season.
There is strong demand from farmers to extend the open auction system to other crops. The Junnar APMC is considering a market on a pilot basis for bananas at Otur near Junnar. This model has helped farmers in the region and other market committees should also take a cue from this, Balasaheb Maskare, former secretary, APMC, Narayangaon, who was part of this effort said. This year, farmers have also gone in for drip irrigation and mulching and they are hoping for a better crop, said Nivrutti Chavan, a farmer who owns 14 acres.