The Maharashtra government is going to make procurement of farm produce at less than minimum support price by traders a punishable offence. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took the decision on Wednesday at a meeting convened to frame policies for cluster farming and double income for farmers. Emphasising the need to check exploitation of farmers by traders taking advantage of volatile market conditions, Fadnavis directed the officials of key departments to work out a draft proposal. Fadnavis said, “Procurement of farmers’ produce below the minimum support price should be treated as a serious offence and punishable.” Highlighting the concerns of farmers who are often exploited by traders when there is a surplus production, he said, “We have to work towards a better mechanism and plug the gaps.” When there is surplus production, prices crash and farmers have to sell at throwaway prices. But shortly after a certain period when the farmers have given away their crops, the prices shoot up. The manipulations in the market because of uncertainty in farm production and climatic insecurities often lead to greater hardships for farmers. The objective of the group farming policy is to make agriculture economically feasible for small and marginal farmers with land holding up to 2 hectares or less. The model entails a group of 20 farmers joining hands with 100 hectares of land and working jointly. The state government would provide all incentives and support in terms of crop pattern, scientific farm practices for better water management and intense cropping. Various schemes roping in services of young graduates from agriculture universities were also discussed at the meeting convened by the chief minister. Some agencies and self- help groups like PepsiCo and Jethro gave presentations which were attended by Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, Industries Minister Subash Desai and Minister of State for Agriculture Sadabhau Khot.
