Agriculture Production Cluster: Breaking the Market Hegemony in Gumla

Recognizing the potential that agriculture has in changing the lives of small landholders, the initiatives to develop an Agriculture Production Cluster, under the Special SGSY project, led to collectivization at all levels, helping asset creation and credit linkage; as a result, some marginal farmers are now emerging as big farmers

T he unprecedented returns from vegetable cultivation for the farmers of Gumla district, one of the Naxal-affected districts of Jharkhand, have rejuvenated them. Vegetable growing and selling had never been so lucrative. The fear of low returns had always haunted the farmers, keeping them away from vegetable cultivation. The perishable nature of the commodity, the urgent credit requirement, the legacy of indebtedness, the absence of proper storage facilities, the poor road network, the inadequate market information, the low volume of produce and the poor negotiation skills had always frightened the vegetable growers in the area. The vegetable business had been limited to the big and the affluent or the so-called ‘progressive’ farmers only.

Government agencies have, over the years, tried to create favourable conditions for agricultural producers; however, due to market imperfections, the intended benefits have not reached the farmers. Ironically, it is the farmers who have had to bear the brunt of inefficient agricultural input supply and market sales mechanisms.

PRADAN took up the ambitious task of ensuring better price returns to the farmers for their crops, especially vegetables. Building on the edifice of the Social Mobilization, and Soil and Water Conservation activities promoted in the area in the past, namely, the three consecutive projects of the UNDP and the MoRD, the latest being the MoRD’s Special SGSY programme (January 2009 to June 2013), PRADAN seeded the concept of promoting and developing Agriculture Production Clusters (APCs) in the district.