Haryana is all set to become the first state in the country to fix a protected price for vegetable crops.

Facts :

• Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched the scheme in the presence of Agriculture Minister Om Prakash Dhankar at Gangar Padhana village in Tarawadi area of Karnal district on December 30.
• In the initial phase four vegetable crops -- potatoes, onions, tomatoes and cauliflower have been included in the scheme.
• The scheme will be coordinated by Agricultural and Marketing Board.
• The protected price or the base price would be fixed equivalent to the cultivation cost. Whenever the prices fall below the input or cultivation costs of the farmer, the state government will compensate for the price deficit.
• For example, if price of potato falls to Rs 1 per kg and the input cost is Rs 4, then the farmer will be forced to sell his produce at a loss of Rs 3. This price deficit of Rs will be compensated by the government.
• The farmers will be ensured of protected price for their vegetables under the 'Bhavantar Bharpai Yojna' or the price deficit compensation scheme.
• The primary objective of this scheme is to ensure that the farmers must not face the distress sale of their produce.
• Now the farmers won’t be forced to dump their produce. If prices fall and farmers are forced to sell vegetables below the protected price, the government will compensate for the same.

Analysis :

• Horticultural production, is a risky proposition and prices fluctuate over time. And since fruits and vegetables are perishable, they cannot be stored for long periods. They have to be sold and consumed within a few days of being plucked and the farmers have to accept the price decided by trader before planting.
• So, this scheme promised to make farmer “risk free”. If he did not manage to recover at least his production cost at the market, the state would pay him the difference.
• After Madhya Pradesh, this is the second state-level implementation of a price deficit payment scheme suggested by Central government’ s policy think tank Niti Aayog.
• Haryana’s Bhavantar Bharpai Yojana is slightly different. Instead of crops for which there is a declared minimum support price, it has selected four vegetables – tomato, onion, potato and cauliflower – and declared their production cost, between Rs 4 and Rs 5 per kg, on its own.
• Haryana sees the scheme as a way to encourage farmers primarily engaged in growing cereals such as wheat and rice to switch to horticulture.
• To avail of the scheme, Haryana farmers will have to sell their produce at a registered Haryana mandi. This means they will have to be aware of daily price movements in Delhi and Haryana markets and be far more nimble in making their decisions than before.