Retail boom will breed monopoly: Farmers Commission

Lucknow, Jan 22 (UNI) National Commission for Farmers has warned that the retail boom will lead to monopoly of a few players in this sector and prove detrimental to the interests of Indian farmers.

''Once retail boom pervades the supply chain of agricultural produce and all the alternative channels dry up, farmers would again be 'squeezed' by the retail giants and stand at the receiving end,'' Commission member R B Singh told UNI here last night.

Mr Singh admitted that the government had failed to deliver, that has led to the current situation, where farmers have no facility to store their produce and negotiate the price of farm produce to their benefit.

''The plan to set up rural warehousing facilities in rural and remote areas has utterly failed,'' he said.

The renowned agricultural scientist suggested that retail facilities should be integrated at rural warehousing facilities, which would prove beneficial to both the farmers and consumers.

''Such units could also be set-up under the cooperative sector, which could be operated by the farmers directly,'' he said.

Mr Singh -- who had served the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as an Assistant Director General -- was here as chief guest at the Annual Rose&Gladiolus Show organised by the Lucknow-based National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI).

National Commission on Farmers functions under the Planning Commission.

On the rising cases of farmers' suicide in the country, Mr Singh said there were several factors responsible for this distressing phenomenon.

''The foremost factor is the credit flow in rural areas. Farmers take agricultural loans at high rates, however, the output and pricing of their produce is neither assured nor predetermined,'' he said.

Asked about the Doha impasse on agreement between developing and developed countries over subsidy and the forthcoming Davos round of talks, he said unless the developed countries brought about massive reduction in subsidies, agreement could not be reached.

''The European Union collectively spend almost a billion US dollars daily on subsidy to their farmers. This gives us an idea about the magnitude of their subsidy, both hidden and open,'' he said.

''A cow in Netherland gets more subsidy than an Indian farmer,'' he said.

UNI