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Prices of Fruits

 Just like that - Prices of Fruits

Dinesh Kumar Kapila
This is purely anecdotal. Just today morning a farmer messaged me about the problems faced by kinnow farmers (low production and productivity, climate change, lack of water in the canals, untreated water and the need to rejuvenate orchards) but stated the farm gate price of Rs 30 a kg was making up for the loss in production. Just about two hundred plus kilometres away we are paying Rs 80 per kg of kinnow. Add grading, packing, sorting, transportation, wastage etc, but does it more than double. And just a few years back the retail price was Rs 100 for five kgs.
In the year 2007 or so, while assigned to three districts in Punjab, I found the price of a premium variety of pear to be Rs 12/- to Rs 15/- per kg. Sold along the highway. At Chandigarh just 40 kilometres away the same day I drove to three stores of corporate outfits and a couple of other stores, the price varied from Rs 45/- per kg to Rs 60/- per kg. I found a similar scenario for melons, in fact much worse. The quantity I purchased for Rs 100/- got me just one third at Chandigarh, hardly 30 kilometres away.
Apples in Kashmir, sold at Rs 23/- to Rs 26/- a kg around 2013 sold in retail at Rs 150/- to Rs 175/- a kg the same day in Delhi. I was posted at Srinagar and we studied this.
The coming of major chains seems to have had a limited impact as of now because one they tend to benchmark prices against the Mandiis ( Markets) or closely align with them. Secondly, the farmers still say they have not gained materially with them plus the corporate outfits demand supply closer to the point of aggregation. Farmer Producer Companies are yet to make a mark and it will be a tough road for them as they lack the commercial resources and funding.
It seems a tough scenario but if by an organic node the Amul model could be replicated by FPCs for fruits it would be ideal. I found a similar concern as regards the markets for tomatoes from the nearby Morni Hills. The FPCs have to evolve as vibrant and transparent commercially oriented entities. Presently both the Consumer and the producer are deprived. But we must know that the AMUL model for fruits and vegetables and even for oils was tried and failed miserably by the same set of professionals. My friend, an astute professional says that with high level variability of product attributes and quality the aggregation and benefit sharing mechanisms of AMUL will collapse which thrived on its inability to distinguish between quality or whether it was Buffalo milk or cows milk. That is the challenge too.
PS Kinnow sells for Rs 60/- a kg at Bangalore as per my friend and is better in quality then what he purchased while posted at Ludhiana. And apples from HP were cheaper at Bangalore too !! And Chandigarh seems to have a more aggressive retail and wholesale market to boot. 

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