Agriculture
Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yard
On 6th of May,
2016, 60 students of I year MBA visited the APMC yard situated in Yeswanthpur.
The students went in two college buses accompanied by 4 staff members, Mr
Murali, Mr Vijay, Mr. Tejas and Mr. Rakesh. The objective was to witness first-hand
the workings of the market.
The APMC yard
was established in 1955 in 8 acres of land catering to 699 villages in and
around Bangalore. The APMC yard was established to provide an organized market
place to farmers and to ensure that they are not exploited at the hands of
unscrupulous buyers. It acts as both primary market (market for farmers and
traders) and tertiary market (market for traders). 52% of the revenue is due to
the primary market making it one of the biggest primary markets in the country.
The APMC yard is
run by a team of elected representatives consisting of 18 members. The chairman
and the vice chairman are elected directly by the member farmers while the
other members are representatives of Government, traders, research institute.
They meet every month to decide on the working of the yard, and other issues.
The committee has 2 women representatives.
Mr. Kumara Swamy,
Additional Secretary, led the students through the presentation about the
working of APMC market. The session started with questions about what a market
is, difference between market, market yard and market area. The session was
very interesting and provided insight into the need of APMC to farmers, the
bidding process for perishable goods, the e-auction service, the financial
transactions, the working of raithara santhe, etc.
Students were
surprised to know that the market deals with 112 commodities and around Rs.
5792 lakhs is the financial revenue. Student was also astounded to know that
during peak season the yard handles around 83999 tonnes of goods. The yard has
25 supervisory, 43 administrative staff to handle the smooth working of the
yard. Also the farmers are issued identity cards and the traders have to get
license to trade in APMC yard. There are 1813 licensed traders, 1462 importers,
1289 exporters and 1001 retail traders. The farmers are provided with basic
facilities like accommodations, canteens, toilet etc.
The sales happen
through mutual understanding and also bidding process. The farmers, when not
happy with the process can reject the bid at any time. The traders once they
bid on an item have to purchase the goods or have to face penalty. Thus the
market works in safeguarding the farmers interest. The APMC also have also have
a revolving fund kept aside to procure perishable goods from farmers when price
crashes due to over production.
The students
also took active participation by asking questions about the fluctuating price
of vegetables, future plans of APMC, how commission rate is different from the
market fee collected here in APMC yard, the dispute settlement between traders
and farmers if arises. The chairman was patient in clearing all the doubts and
further encouraged the student to visit the Yelehanka raithe santhey to know
how small farmers are selling directly to consumers in an organized way
benefiting both the parties. The price at the santhey is fixed @ 20% lower than
other retail markets and 20% higher than the wholesale market.
The visit ended
with the walk through the yard and the plan to visit Yelehanka raithe santhey
soon.
On 6th of May,
2016, 60 students of I year MBA visited the APMC yard situated in Yeswanthpur.
The students went in two college buses accompanied by 4 staff members, Mr
Murali, Mr Vijay, Mr. Tejas and Mr. Rakesh. The objective was to witness first-hand
the workings of the market.
The APMC yard
was established in 1955 in 8 acres of land catering to 699 villages in and
around Bangalore. The APMC yard was established to provide an organized market
place to farmers and to ensure that they are not exploited at the hands of
unscrupulous buyers. It acts as both primary market (market for farmers and
traders) and tertiary market (market for traders). 52% of the revenue is due to
the primary market making it one of the biggest primary markets in the country.
The APMC yard is
run by a team of elected representatives consisting of 18 members. The chairman
and the vice chairman are elected directly by the member farmers while the
other members are representatives of Government, traders, research institute.
They meet every month to decide on the working of the yard, and other issues.
The committee has 2 women representatives.
Mr. Kumara Swamy,
Additional Secretary, led the students through the presentation about the
working of APMC market. The session started with questions about what a market
is, difference between market, market yard and market area. The session was
very interesting and provided insight into the need of APMC to farmers, the
bidding process for perishable goods, the e-auction service, the financial
transactions, the working of raithara santhe, etc.
Students were
surprised to know that the market deals with 112 commodities and around Rs.
5792 lakhs is the financial revenue. Student was also astounded to know that
during peak season the yard handles around 83999 tonnes of goods. The yard has
25 supervisory, 43 administrative staff to handle the smooth working of the
yard. Also the farmers are issued identity cards and the traders have to get
license to trade in APMC yard. There are 1813 licensed traders, 1462 importers,
1289 exporters and 1001 retail traders. The farmers are provided with basic
facilities like accommodations, canteens, toilet etc.
The sales happen
through mutual understanding and also bidding process. The farmers, when not
happy with the process can reject the bid at any time. The traders once they
bid on an item have to purchase the goods or have to face penalty. Thus the
market works in safeguarding the farmers interest. The APMC also have also have
a revolving fund kept aside to procure perishable goods from farmers when price
crashes due to over production.
The students
also took active participation by asking questions about the fluctuating price
of vegetables, future plans of APMC, how commission rate is different from the
market fee collected here in APMC yard, the dispute settlement between traders
and farmers if arises. The chairman was patient in clearing all the doubts and
further encouraged the student to visit the Yelehanka raithe santhey to know
how small farmers are selling directly to consumers in an organized way
benefiting both the parties. The price at the santhey is fixed @ 20% lower than
other retail markets and 20% higher than the wholesale market.
The visit ended
with the walk through the yard and the plan to visit Yelehanka raithe santhey
soon.
The programme went on smoothly
and all the participants had a fun time as the session was full of laughter.
Students were appreciated for time sense and tireless effort in making the
event successful.
