In what has been described as the first big transaction between a large corporation and farmers since the promulgation of the amended Agricultural Produces Marketing Committee (APMC) Act in Karnataka, Reliance Retail have signed a deal with the Swasthya Farmers Producing Company in Raichur for the purchase of 1,000 quintals of paddy at rates above the minimum support price (MSP), Times of India reported.
As per the report, the SFPC would act as an intermediary between 1,1100 paddy farmers in Rachur district and Reliance Retail. The purchase price, of Rs 1,950 per quintal of Soona Masoori paddy for 1,000 quintals, is Rs 82 higher than the MSP offered by the government at APMCs.
As per the deal between farmers and the SFPC, the latter takes a 1.5 per cent commission per every Rs 100 transaction. The farmers also must bear the expenses of the sacks used to pack the crop and transport it to the warehouse. The paddy procured must also meet quality standards of less than 16 per cent moisture, with a third party to verify the quality.
The moves a week after the company stated it would not enter the corporate or contract farming business, with no plans to enter the same. Reliance’s statement came after over 1,400 of its telecom towers were attacked allegedly by protesting farmers. Reliance had condemned the attacks, calling for the Punjab and Haryana High Courts to move against the “miscreants indulging in vandalism”.
“Reliance Retail Limited (RRL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), or any other affiliate of our parent company, i.e., Reliance Industries Limited have not done any “corporate” or “contract” farming in the past, and have absolutely no plans to enter this business,” Reliance Retail had earlier stated.
“Neither Reliance nor any of our subsidiaries has purchased any agricultural land, directly or indirectly, in Punjab/Haryana or anywhere else in India, for the purpose of “corporate” or “contract” farming. We have absolutely no plans to do so,” it added.
“Reliance Retail...does not purchase any food grains directly from farmers. It has never entered into long-term procurement contracts to gain unfair advantage over farmers or sought that its suppliers buy from farmers at less than remunerative prices, nor will it ever do so,” it said.
The company gave an assurance that it would insist its suppliers strictly abide by the Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism.
