Trucks support the operations of APMC Vashi
Over 2500 trucks travel to APMC Vashi in Navi Mumbai every day, bringing with them fruits, vegetables and a lot more.
Light beams of trucks illuminate the premises of Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Vashi at 2 am. In what could be described as an amazing show of light beams, trucks rush into the vegetable market in the dead of the night, ferrying fragile vegetables that may not last longer than a few hours. It is the speed that counts. The vegetable market is one of the four markets that make up APMC Vashi, which is claimed to be the Asia’s largest regulated agricultural market. The other three comprise of a fruit market, onion and potato market (including a section for garlic), and the food grain market, which includes a section for spices, dry fruits, etc. A diverse variety of trucks make it to this market every day. They amount to a whopping 2500 in numbers. Supporting the supply chain of APMC Vashi, some are filled to the brim, others not as much, or less. Reflective of a complex agricultural supply chain at work, which is often criticised for its lack of efficiency, the trucks, ranging between 49-tonnes and 0.5-tonne, are a common site at APMC Vashi. It is therefore not surprising to find an auto-rickshaw ferrying a load of jack-fruits. Neither is it surprising to find a reefer truck ready to ferry an export consignment of fruits and vegetables to the port nearby.
Trucks ferry produce from across Maharashtra
An interaction with Sitaram
Kavarkhe, Joint Secretary of the fruit market committee later in the day would reveal that it is the speed of transportation that matters most. Especially in the case of agri-produce like vegetables and fruits. Averred Kavarkhe, “Over 70 per cent of the trucks that come to the fruit and vegetable market are from across the state (Maharashtra). The remaining 30 per cent come from other parts of the country, including Delhi, Indore, and other destinations. It is speed that matters when transporting fruits and vegetables.” “For example, Coriander reaches the APMC market from Indore or other parts of Maharashtra in nine to ten hours. It may begin journey from Indore at 6 pm and reach Vashi at 3 am in the morning. If it gets a little late, the quality of the produce may start deteriorating,” he added.
APMC allows 24x7 entry of trucks loaded with agricultural produce. However, it is between 1 am and 6 am that the most arrivals are recorded. It would take no more than 45 minutes for a 7-tonne truck loaded with Coriander to unload at the market (a highly organised chain is at play, and consists of a forwarding agent, a trader at APMC, and wholesale buyers from the region). It is then loaded on to smaller trucks, ranging between 0.5-tonne to 3.5-tonne capacity, and dispatched to the smaller markets in the region, thus ending up at the various vegetable stalls and vendors across Mumbai and its surrounding region. “A pickup loaded with Coriander will leave APMC at 3am, and within 25 minutes reach the Dadar vegetable market for the produce to go on sale there,” stated Kavarkhe. According to Kavarkhe, most fruit and vegetable transactions are executed between mid-night and 8 am.
Over 2500 trucks arrive at APMC everyday
Spread across 177 hectares of land allotted by the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) Ltd., APMC Vashi was set up in 1970, and with a view to de-congest Mumbai. Earlier it were the Crawford market, Byculla market and the Dadar market, which dealt in what the APMC deals with. To provide some idea, it may be worth stating once again, that 2500 trucks arrive at APMC Vashi every
day. A better picture of the APMC Vashi could be had from the fact that over 8,61,291 metric tonnes of produce was transacted upon at the onion and potato market in FY15; 7,13,143 metric tonnes of vegetables; 6,38,202 metric tonnes of spices and condiments; 1,33,7145 metric tonnes of food grains, and 2,02,853 metric tonnes of sugar were also transacted.
An estimated 1,800 tonnes of vegetables arrive at APMC Vashi everyday from the vegetable growing regions of Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. It is a combination of light and speedy commercial vehicles, which execute the task. They drive down non-stop according to Kavarkhe. An entry point for all the food grains, spices, fruits and vegetables meant for Greater Mumbai, Thane, and 30 villages of Uran Taluka of Raigad District, APMC Vashi extends from Vashi to Turbhe, and is made up of 3,700 godowns, 1,500 commercial blocks, four large auction halls, two giant warehouses, and five large wholesale market yards. It has an estimated 3,707 commission agents, 2513 traders, 354 Mapadi workers, 663 Mathadi workers, and 1716 others. Out of the 1716 others, 55 people are involved in direct marketing, and another 30 make up the vigilance department.
Agri waste is a challenge
Near impossible to cover on foot, APMC Vashi operates under the aegis of the APMC Act. Each of the four markets is neatly segregated into four-to-five lanes with a gate for ‘entry’ and ‘exit’. While the food grain market is
perhaps the most vibrant, and with a constant arrival and departure of trucks, it is the vegetable market that turns the most silent by 10 am. All the produce would have left by then, and the trucks are on their way to pickup cargo to be taken back to where they came from. They will ferry another load of fresh vegetables to the market the next day. Many trucks on their return journey ferry compost averred Kavarkhe. Agri waste is a challenge that the APMC Vashi has to deal with on a day-today basis. Many traders, claimed Kavarkhe, make due arrangement for the disposal of the agri-waste by sending it to cattle shelters. With expansion activities in progress, APMC Vashi, according to those that deal in fruits, is also building cold storage facilities to increase the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain. Fortified with tall walls, APMC Vashi presents the feeling of being in a fortified city somehow. Supporting market activities, are amenities like commercial banks, restaurants, ATM facilities, dhabhas (eateries), tea stalls, etc.
It is 10 am by the time we enter the food grain market. Caution has to be exercised, as every passing moment a truck passes by. Narrow lanes constrain the passage of trucks. Actually, the lanes feel narrow because of the trucks parked across various bays. Between the bays, it is easy to spot dates spread out. It is easy to spot people inspecting them. They must be the wholesale buyers. APMC Vashi is all about wholesale. Clearly, the quietness of some bays is interspersed by a frantic activity at other bays. A little ahead are establishments that specialise in spices. The smell of spices is thick in the air. Even signboards announcing various spice brands are dotting this section. Compared to the vegetable or the fruit market, this market lends an air of being laid back. It actually is not, but the shelf life of the agricultural products dealt with, presents that impression perhaps.
Potatos from Uttar Pradesh for Mumbai’s ‘Vada-pav’
It is almost 12.30pm as we find our way to the onion and potato market. A 31-tonne 8x2 rigid truck reverses into a bay, and like a swarm of bees, workers resume the task of unloading potatoes in great earnest. The load of potatoes has come from Uttar Pradesh. A short interaction with a trader there revealed that 30 to 35 trucks supply potatoes to the markets in the island city of Mumbai from here. This is done with the help of 7-10-tonne trucks. Potatoes are heavier the trader opined. He suggested that we should check out the amount of potatoes used everyday in Mumbai to prepare the staplediet ‘Vada Pav’ to get a good idea of how many are consumed. Claiming that there was a time when 400 to 500 truck load of potatoes used to land at this market, the trader expressed that the establishment of regional markets and committees led to a slowdown. Oldest of the four, and containing the office of the central committee, a bit of a deserted look of this market is hard to disregard. Especially, when the flurry of activity in the fruit and food grain market is taken into account. A section of the onion and potato market is dedicated to garlic. It was this market that shot women truck driver from Bhopal, Yogita Raghuvanshi, to fame in 2013. She ferried 16-tonnes of potatoes from Agra in her 10-wheeler truck. She became the first women truck driver to visit APMC Vashi.
Truck drivers and workers make the core occupational group
Truck drivers and workers make up the core occupational group at APMC Vashi. It is interesting to understand their ways of working. Both need to be termed as efficient and agile, and at the centre of the agricultural supply
the cargo such that the goods to be delivered first is the last to load. Explained Kavarkhe, “There may be five to 10 retailers from Andheri who may want to buy spices, dry-fruits, onion, potatoes, food grains and fruits. They will hire a truck such that it will deliver the goods to every retailer in a meticulous manner, one after the other. Such consolidated transportation benefits each retailer. Sharing capacities (truck load) saves money, and ensures good business for the transporter.” A charge of sevenrupees per gunnysack is charged to unload. Containing agriproduce, these gunnysacks are weighed by a battalion of workers at a rate of five-rupees per bag. Transport fees for the drivers bringing the goods from the farm to the APMC average at about Rs 70 per sack. An agent will charge seven per cent commission approximately. Market tax is 0.8 per cent. This is accounted to the farmer’s earning.
By the time we leave APMC Vashi, it is 4 pm. Activity at the vegetable market has almost died down. It will pick up pace once again as the night falls. As of current, there’s good activity at the fruit market. The other two markets are also witnessing good deal of activity. Trucks are seen entering and exiting through the gates. Arranged like lego blocks with roads separating one market from the other, APMC Vashi resembles a fortified city inside a city indeed. It is the one that has its own economy and systems to contend with. Undoubtedly, at the core of these two are the trucks and their drivers, and the hardy workers who load and off-load the agricultural produce. It is the trucks that support the operations. of a produce are decided on the basis of its demand and stock. If 300 trucks worth of onions arrive at the market, and 100 truck load is sold, the prices have a fair chance of moderating or dipping. If only 100 trucks worth of potatoes arrive the next day, the price may go up.
Complex supply chain ends at the retailer
With APMC Vashi acting as a hub, a variety of smaller sellers, and retailers throng the market everyday. They may appear in a group or as individuals. The agricultural produce that they buy is often transported to their door step by the means of a meticulously engineered supply chain. An auto rickshaw ferrying jack fruits is a one-off instance! At the beginning of the last mile supply chain, a transporter could be handed upto 300 bills by a trader. The transporter then arranges them in such a way that he can deliver the goods to one retailer after the other without losing time. He will thus arrange chain, a good part of which includes perishable goods. The trade at APMC Vashi is conducted (traders and brokers at the market term the transaction as ‘patti’) in such a way that it is the farmer who ends up paying the driver and the transporter from the money he earns by selling his produce. Quite often, a truck contains produce from different farmers, and of different quality as well as quantity. The produce is clearly marked farmer-wise by the forwarding agent so that it is easily identified when it reaches Vashi. Said Kavarkhe, “When a farmer usually sends his crop (fruits or vegetable) there are forwarding agents who transport on the behalf of the farmers. Farmer’s produce is labelled with the trader or broker’s name to whom it has been addressed. The surplus could be sold to another trader or broker depending on the price and the stock.” Explained a source that the prices are decided by the brokers and traders on many parameters. It is like a stock market, and the rates