Soybean Farmers stuck in Between Govt and Market?

Soybean, a Kharif oilseed crop grown prominently in MP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, is taken in about 13 million hectares in the country. Whereas M.P. In this year about 64 lakh hectares. A target has been set to take soybean, but Madhya Pradesh has got the status of soya state. In this year the shortage of soybean seed is hurting the farmers. 

The farmer, forced to take expensive seed, does not even know whether his cost will be covered or not. The government rate of soybean seed has also been increased, due to which private seed companies have also come down on arbitrariness. In the annual meeting of Kharif, Agriculture Commissioner, Government of India, Dr. S.K. Malhotra had said in his presentation that about 29 lakh quintals of soybean seed is required in this kharif in the country but there may be a shortfall of 10 percent. 

Private traders are taking advantage of this 10% reduction and are selling soybean seeds for Rs 8 to 12 thousand per quintal. While the state government has also given Rs. 7500. The rate of quintal seed has been fixed. The farmer in the country and the state is getting crushed between the government and the market.

Although on the instructions of the Agriculture Minister of the state, some companies have been suspended and some officials have been suspended for black marketing of soybean seeds, while on the other hand some companies were just thinking about their own profit specially in private sector. There is also the matter of commission. 

Due to the reduced germination capacity of last year's soybean seed, up to 50 percent of the seed was of no use. Farmers save the seeds from their crop for the next season, but the previous Kharif crop was ruined due to heavy rains. So the farmers did not have seeds left to sow this time. According to experts, about 60 percent of the total requirement comes from the seed crop itself. But this time the farmers do not have it. 

The seed available in the market is so expensive that it is not a matter of every farmer to buy and sow it. Sehore farmer Veer Singh says that soyabean seed is very weak. In the event of a slight deterioration in quality, its germination is greatly reduced. If the demand in the market is more and the seeds are less, then there is a possibility that the sellers will also consume the weak seeds. Some sellers buy goods from the mandis at the local level, grade them and sell them at the cost of seeds. Therefore, this time the quality of the market cannot be trusted much.

Thanks for visiting us.