The Centre is in discussion with states to develop a scheme to finance or reimburse the cost of transportation of agricultural commodities from producing regions to consumption points for the benefit of farmers as well as consumers, Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Monday.
Such a scheme would help reduce “wide variations in prices” at the production and consumption points, Chouhan said during an interaction with some farmers.
Stressing the need to build a “farm-to-consumer” model, he said the objective of this initiative would be to enable farmers directly sell their produce to consumers, reducing the role of intermediaries and ensuring maximum profit for farmers.
The minister had earlier stated that farmers cannot bear transport costs and take their produce to large markets in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, or Kolkata, so they sell cheaply at the farm gate or nearby mandis.
“We are in consultation with states on whether the transportation cost can be shared between the Centre and states while a specialised agency would handle these transportation from farm to markets,” Chouhan said.
He said the government is also discussing providing direct financial assistance to farmers for the purchase of agricultural equipment and inputs.
He said that for ensuring remunerative prices to farmers, government agencies would buy pulses varieties such as tur, urad and masoor at the minimum support price (MSP). Central agencies such as Nafed and NCCF have purchased a record 1.3 million tonne of soybean from farmers at MSP under the agriculture ministry’s price support scheme in the current season (2024-25) as prices were ruling below the MSP, he added.