Agriculture Minister speaks of“Vegetable Mafia” - EDITORIAL

Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage who was in Nuwara Eliya on Sunday to get first-hand knowledge on the plight of vegetable farmers during COVID-19 restrictions, told media that a “Vegetable Mafia” was in action. He told this after comparing vegetable prices in Nuwara Eliya and Colombo through a telephone conversation with another person in Colombo.   

According to the conversation, leeks is being bought by traders from farmers in Nuwara Eliya at Rs. 20 a kilo whereas the same vegetable is being sold in Colombo at Rs. 140 a kilo. Similarly potato is Rs. 140 in Nuwara Eliya and Rs. 260 in Colombo. Cabbage is being bought at Rs. 80 and sold at Rs. 140. Carrot which is bought from Nuwara Eliya farmers at Rs.130 a kilo is being sold in Colombo at Rs. 260.  

The Minister was told by the farmers that more than 200,000 kilos of leeks  was being left without being harvested in Nuwara Eliya alone, as farmers were not earning at least the harvesting cost by selling it.   

Earlier the same exploitation of farmers was exposed during a discussion between the traders in Bandarawela and former Uva Province Governor Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon. He said that lorries and tractors laden with 600,000 kilos of vegetable had been parked on roadsides due to restrictions to proceed to Colombo. He also pointed out the vast disparity in prices in Colombo and the farming areas such as Welimada, Uvaparanagama, Nuwara Eliya and Bandarawela. Meanwhile lorry owners complained on Sunday that they had brought vegetable worth Rs. 10 million to the Manning Market but the market had been closed as PCR tests on the porters of the market had not been completed. They charged that the authorities had informed them that the market would be opened on Sunday.   

Senior DIG for the Western Province Deshabandu Tennakoon arrived at the venue and arrangements were made to take the vegetable to the Narahenpita Economic Centre. When the lorries arrived there the lorry drivers were again in for a rude shock after being told that the economic centre too had been closed. Days ago, media had carried stories about farmers in Dambulla undergoing the same plight. The end result is millions of kilos of vegetable are being dumped on road sides in farming areas while millions of people in the Western Province are suffering due to the high prices of vegetable. These incidents point to the absence of proper planning of distribution of essential items in the face of restrictions imposed due to COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant, utter chaotic situation that the vegetable farmers are faced with.  

This is the time when people in all parts of the country are undergoing untold difficulties and sufferings due to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak such as curfew and isolation of various localities. Except for the monthly salary earners and those who have bank savings all others especially the daily wage earners and those who are doing odd jobs are the worst hit groups. The middlemen are exploiting the high vulnerability of these groups as well, which is inhuman and cruel at a time like this.  

Although the plight of the farmers and the cruel exploitation of them by the middlemen were highlighted this time as a part of COVID-19 related stories and the intervention of ministers, this is a situation prevailing in various extents for decades. Despite the micro debt crises faced by many in the country that had been highlighted in the media since lately,  the debt crisis  faced by the vegetable farmers is an untold story. Many of them start each round of their cultivation with the debt facilities provided by the traders in their localities or in the Manning Market. They pay the debt fully or partly with the harvest and again get a loan from the same trader for the next round of cultivation. This vicious cycle has been continuing for decades.  

There is no centralised planning in farming in the country which sometimes leads to farmers in almost all farming areas cultivating same vegetables, ultimately resulting in drastic price drops in those areas. Yet, the middlemen profit from such situations as well. Another group profits from situations by importing items such as potato and big onions. Sometimes these items are imported while the harvesting in local farming areas is on. Several attempts by farmer organisations to distribute vegetable directly to needy areas without sending them first to Colombo and then to those areas, were scuttled by people with vested interest with the support of powerful politicians.   
This is not just an act of “Vegetable Mafia.” It would be difficult to address this issue without a comprehensive plan at the highest level.