The Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) has appointed six officers as its representatives outside the state to facilitate trade in semi-perishable commodities. With this move, the MSAMB will become the first marketing board to appoint out-of-state representatives. Sunil Pawar, managing director of MSAMB, said these trade representatives will not only collect relevant market information but also facilitate trade across states.
The Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board (MSAMB) has appointed six officers as its representatives outside the state to facilitate trade in semi-perishable commodities. With this move, the MSAMB will become the first marketing board to appoint out-of-state representatives. Sunil Pawar, managing director of MSAMB, said these trade representatives will not only collect relevant market information but also facilitate trade across states.
When it comes to production of fruits and vegetables, Maharashtra leads India both in production as well as acreage. The state is the leader in production of fruits and vegetables like onions, mangoes and grapes. But farmers rarely manage to penetrate markets outside the state given the unavailability of market information and lack of local contacts. Invariably, this trade is controlled by traders who have developed resources and contacts over the years.
Explaining the role of trade representatives, Pawar said they will act as the representatives of the Board and, in turn, of farmer producer companies (FPC)s and farmers’ cooperatives in those states. “Their main work will be to identify the market and facilitate coordination between such markets and producers in Maharashtra,” he said. Trade representatives have been posted in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu. Pawar said letters have been written to the Agricultural Marketing Boards of those states, requesting their cooperation.
This would be the second important step taken by the Board to improve inter-state trade. Earlier this year, the Board had announced transport subsidy for FPCs and farmers’ cooperatives for trade outside the state. These trade representatives will also help the FPCs and farmers’ cooperatives during the process of sales in these markets as well as prevent them from being cheated.
Inter-state trade is a neglected sector, with most farmers competing for a piece of the export markets directly. In some cases, officers said realisation from inter-state trade is better than that from overseas markets. But this trade has mostly been cornered by traders.
Yogesh Thorat, managing director of MahaFPC — the apex body of FPCs in the state — welcomed the MSAMB’s move and said MahaFPC has already started working with such trade representatives. “Our trade in Chennai is being coordinated via such representatives,” he said.
MahaFPCs are dealing with onions, and at least 500 tonne of onion from the state have already been sent to other markets. Thorat said they are coordinating with the representatives in Delhi for exploring markets in north India as well. At present, MahaFPC has is focus on onions, but there are plans to start trading in pomegranate also.
When it comes to production of fruits and vegetables, Maharashtra leads India both in production as well as acreage. The state is the leader in production of fruits and vegetables like onions, mangoes and grapes. But farmers rarely manage to penetrate markets outside the state given the unavailability of market information and lack of local contacts. Invariably, this trade is controlled by traders who have developed resources and contacts over the years.
Explaining the role of trade representatives, Pawar said they will act as the representatives of the Board and, in turn, of farmer producer companies (FPC)s and farmers’ cooperatives in those states. “Their main work will be to identify the market and facilitate coordination between such markets and producers in Maharashtra,” he said. Trade representatives have been posted in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam and Tamil Nadu. Pawar said letters have been written to the Agricultural Marketing Boards of those states, requesting their cooperation.
This would be the second important step taken by the Board to improve inter-state trade. Earlier this year, the Board had announced transport subsidy for FPCs and farmers’ cooperatives for trade outside the state. These trade representatives will also help the FPCs and farmers’ cooperatives during the process of sales in these markets as well as prevent them from being cheated.
Inter-state trade is a neglected sector, with most farmers competing for a piece of the export markets directly. In some cases, officers said realisation from inter-state trade is better than that from overseas markets. But this trade has mostly been cornered by traders.
Yogesh Thorat, managing director of MahaFPC — the apex body of FPCs in the state — welcomed the MSAMB’s move and said MahaFPC has already started working with such trade representatives. “Our trade in Chennai is being coordinated via such representatives,” he said.
MahaFPCs are dealing with onions, and at least 500 tonne of onion from the state have already been sent to other markets. Thorat said they are coordinating with the representatives in Delhi for exploring markets in north India as well. At present, MahaFPC has is focus on onions, but there are plans to start trading in pomegranate also.