Just as it is important to ensure fair price for the produce at the farmer level, it is also desirable for everyone to maintain the tolerable price at the consumer level as well. Despite the increase in agricultural production, instability in the commodity market disrupts the normal life of people.

The government has various steps to eliminate this instability. The month of Ramadan is very close. The fear of increasing the prices of daily commodities in Ramadan increases people's anxiety. A collective effort is needed to solve this problem.

Everyone frankly admits the incredible success of agriculture, but when the price of agricultural products in the market is not at a bearable level, this success goes down. In a free market economy it is very difficult for the government to fix the prices of all agricultural products.

The price of agricultural products is determined by the combination of production cost, marketing cost and profit. Farmers want fair price of produce, traders want higher price i.e. more profit and consumers want lower price. It is very difficult to determine the equilibrium price of a product by combining these three prices.

There are multiple reasons for the rise in prices at the consumer level. As the consumers are buying daily commodities including various agricultural products at unbearable prices, there is increasing instability in their minds. An efficient and effective market management is needed to determine sustainable prices of products.

In the absence of this, many are resorting to illegal hoarding or syndication by creating artificial crisis. It increases the pain in the mind of the consumers. If the farmer does not get a fair price for his produce, he will later lose interest in production.

Although many farmers do not keep the information about the price at which the farmer's product is sold to the consumer, it is very important to know the price difference in policy-making. If the price difference is high, it is important to find out the reason.

If appropriate measures are taken against unreasonable price increase, it will be possible to maintain tolerable prices at the consumer level to some extent. However, strict legal action should be taken against unreasonably increasing the prices of products despite the favourable environment.

Alternative market management can be considered to increase direct producer-to-consumer linkages, shorten and streamline supply chains. Cooperative market management can be introduced to ensure direct access to mass markets for marginal and small farmers. If group marketing is introduced by strengthening farmers' organisations, the opportunity for price increase due to multiple changes of hands of the same product will be reduced. As a result, prices at the consumer level may be somewhat bearable.

Identifying weaknesses in the existing supply chain can benefit from prompt action to address them, market committee transparency, accountability and public welfare. In this case, the local administration, local political power and the market committee of the respective area can collectively play an effective role. It is important to identify the problems of marketing and find out the reasons for the increase in the price of agricultural products.

The National Agricultural Marketing Policy 2021 has mentioned several clear measures to keep the price of essential agricultural products at a bearable level throughout the year. Among the steps are to fix production and import targets to ensure year-round supply of essential agricultural commodities; Determining the amount of subsidy necessary to keep prices of agricultural inputs sustainable to prevent price increases due to cost of production; To implement rational pricing of essential agricultural commodities to prevent exorbitant profits, as well as to organize meetings, seminars and workshops on ethics and ethics in agribusiness.

Apart from these, taking effective measures to prevent illegal artificial crises, hoarding and other illegal activities in the market; assist in demand assessment and timely marketing to maintain the supply of alternative products of essential agricultural commodities at normal levels; to encourage the farmers to produce region-specific amount of crops according to domestic and regional total demand are also imperative.

Helping to create new agribusinesses and entrepreneurs to prevent monopolistic markets; Assisting the government in keeping various agricultural products stocked according to the possible future demand keeping the market supply normal; Taking necessary steps to maintain normal stock and supply of essential agricultural products during natural calamities; Reduce import dependence by preserving perishable agricultural products like onion, garlic, chilli and other agricultural products, encourage use during emergencies and high prices, provide training and technical assistance.

The National Agricultural Marketing Policy 2021 also clearly indicated that assisting the Government in taking actionable measures by investigating the rational reasons for the increase in the price of goods; taking effective steps to implement rational prices at wholesale and retail level in the light of production cost and marketing cost of agricultural products; and conducting direct marketing activities of various agricultural products are needed in various volatile and crisis situations. If such strong measures of the government are properly implemented, it is expected that the price of daily essential products will come to a bearable level at the consumer level.

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The writer is an agricultural economist and former National Consultant, FAO. Email: [email protected]