Editor’s Note
This report highlights the logistical strain at a key Indian agricultural market, where a record paddy harvest has overwhelmed capacity, forcing its closure and leaving farmers stranded. It underscores the critical infrastructure challenges that can accompany a bumper crop.
Kota’s Bhamashah Agricultural Produce Mandi is witnessing a record inflow of paddy these days. Due to a severe shortage of space within the mandi premises, the gates had to be closed from Saturday night. This forced hundreds of farmers and truck drivers to stay put outside the mandi.
Farmers are spending the night in trolleys and trucks parked by the roadside. In some places, farmers and drivers are lighting stoves to cook their own food, while elsewhere arrangements have been made to sleep inside the vehicles. The closure of the mandi gates has resulted in queues stretching over a kilometer outside the gates. Farmers and drivers are waiting under the open sky, braving the cold and dust. Currently, around 200,000 to 250,000 bags of various produce are arriving at the mandi daily, of which about 150,000 bags are paddy alone.
A large quantity of paddy is arriving from Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, 20,000 to 25,000 bags of maize, soybean, and other produce are also arriving. Due to the continuous surge in arrivals, the mandi premises are completely full. The mandi was closed at 11 PM on Saturday and will reopen late on Sunday at 11 PM. Only then will new vehicles be allowed entry. Farmers already waiting outside are not being granted permission to enter.
The Kota Grain and Seeds Merchants Association held a meeting with the mandi administration on Saturday to discuss a new system. It was decided that auctions for different produce will now be arranged at separate locations within the mandi, so that weighing and loading can be done at the same spot. This will help clear goods from the mandi faster and allow entry for new vehicles. Association President Avinash Rathore stated that considering the inflow of goods, another meeting with the mandi administration will be held on Monday to further improve the arrangements.
— Deendayal, Shyopur
— Nasir Ali, Madhya Pradesh
— Gopal, Farmer
