The sight of farmers performing hectic calculations using
their smart phones is not altogether rare these days. And yet when a professor
from India’s premier rural management institute tried ensuring transparency the
android way he ran into enormous bureaucratic obstacles.
“It took me six months to a year to convince the powers
that be,” sighs Prof. MV Durga Prasad, who teaches Operations Research and
Supply Chain Management at the Institute of Rural management, Anand (IRMA).
It was some two years ago that Prof. Prasad, who was
studying the tomato market in Madanpalle in Andhra Pradesh, spotted the lacunae
in the present oral ascending mode of auctioning. Lacking transparency, this
method left the door open for ‘mandi’ agents to walk away with a fair killing
leaving the poor farmer high and dry.
Having explored the markets in five states extensively Prof.
Prasad set about installing an automated tendering process that would ensure
transparency to the farmer and fetch him a fair price in the market. Having
already authored a pricing model for agricultural commodities he now devised a
system with the help of internet-based web applications.
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| Prof. Durga Prasad: The man behind the automation model |
“Having spoken to many farmers in states as widespread as
Punjab, Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh,” says the senior academician, “I realized
that they were unhappy and dissatisfied with the opaqueness of the current system.”
Prof. Prasad has submitted proposals to various markets and
even conducted a workshop to that effect at IRMA recently. How soon the government will respond is the
big question.
13 comments:
a much needed item for the rural farmers..govt shud impliment this if they are pro farmers...Tanq Indraniji..
This is something which is being done in many goverment departments already but agricultural produce is something else altogether. The entire mandi is run by a group of middlemen and such a system will completely spoil their party. Their influence on the 'powers that be' is also very high. With this we can only hope that this wonderful work done by an enterprising professor of IRMA will see the light of the day.
Thanks Ira and Samskara for your comments. Doing away with middlemen is the need of the hour, you are very correct about that.
A good article. It would be very helpful to the farmers. It would also help in reducing the price to the consumers. I was wondering about the cost to educate the farmer and the buyer. Also cost of the equipment.
The Academician's brainchild of immense importance has already explored the market and will by all probabilities give a huge relief to the farmers but efforts from thinktanks like Indrani Talukdar is no less to try and bring it to the knowledge of mass.- Saibal mukherjee
Thanks Linz, for the comment. As to the cost, I think it's not much considering that most farmers are pretty tech-savvy. But I could ask Prof. Durga Prasad to answer your question.
Dear Saibal,
Thanks a lot for reading my post Saibal. Prof. Durga Prasad, the main person behind this idea, is trying to get the powers that be at governemnt and administrative levels to listen. Which they should, I feel :)
a great initiative well profiled.
Thanks for your comment, Nachiketaji!
Thanks for the Article. Such systems will make the markets more efficient but middlemen will try their best to not let these systems work. Such systems are working quite well in Canada esp. for corn farmers.
Thanks for posting, Guriqbal. I know that middlemen are major stumbling blocks but then who knows...?
thanks
Thanks for the Article
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