By Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: A novel initiative launched for the first time in the country by the Andhra Pradesh Co-operative Marketing Federation Limited (Markfed) is brining smiles to both farmers as well as the women members of the selfhelp groups in the villages. The “procurement at the doorstep” scheme launched on an experimental basis by Markfed in the last Kharif season for purchasing maize from farmers in seven districts of the state has proved so successful that it yielded an estimated Rs 100 crore more to the farmers, mostly the small and marginal ones, as they could sell their produce at a minimum support price (MSP) fixed by the Centre. In many cases, in fact, the farmers got more than the Rs 540 per quintal MSP besides eliminating other costs like transportation and handling charges, etc. Also, farmers had no need to wait for long hours at the agricultural market yards to sell their produce during the peak harvesting season as the produce is being directly purchased at the farmers’ doorsteps. This apart, the women self-help groups which acted as the link between Markfed and the farmers too derived huge benefit out of the procurement initiative with the g ove r n m e n t granting them an incentive of one per cent on the overall transactions. This way the 260-odd SHGs that took part in the procurement process earned over Rs 1.18 crore. “It’s a win-win situation for all. While farmers are the major beneficiaries of the programme, the women groups too have got their share of benefit. Markfed’s turnover too shot up because of maize procurement which will help us take up other activities to spread the benefits,” Markfed managing director M T Krishna Babu said. Maize occupies the second position after paddy in the overall agricultural production list in the state with a production of 16 lakh tonnes in Kharif and another six lakh tonnes in Rabi.
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