Public infrastructure is never just about the infrastructure. It is an approach that assesses the citizens’ requirement to live a certain life and provides the infrastructure to make that possible. It is also a philosophy. It informs what you consider necessary and what gets higher priority etc.

In Indian agriculture, this is a debate that has been ongoing for a while. How much should we spend on subsidies; how critical are loan waivers to farmers’ survival; what sort market linkage mechanisms should we invest in etc. The issues are complex and need deeper deliberation than what this post can cover. However, there are models or solutions for parts elsewhere that can be emulated.
Last month, we visited farmers’ markets in three cities of Bhutan – Paro, Punakha and Thimphu. While the one in Paro was well laid out and neat, the ones in Thimphu and Punakha deserve special mention.

The farmers market in Thimphu is a massive two storey building. It was brightly and tastefully lit in the evening. The top floor looked so posh from afar that we thought it must be a party place or a cafe. But it was a The Centenary Farmers Market. Absolutely clean, spacious, and laid out in neat grids with proper signages, it was a joy to just walk around. There were rows of stands with local rice varieties, rows of fresh produce in the back and then an entire section on cheese and dairy. In the rear of the produce zone, there was a food court. It was run by volunteers skilled under the government’s skilling program – De-suung.

The one in Paro was even more impressive. It was a large open area next to the river. A massive parking area with chalked out slots. Inside, each farmer’s station had an electricity connection, some had refrigerators. There was a canopied food court, again run by the skilled volunteers. At the back, right on the bank of the river was a cafe and a bar run by women, again volunteers skilled under the De-suung program. We sat there late at night; the three women who ran the bar did not seem concerned about their safety.

We could see the river, the bar and the market from our room. We sat there watching cars pull in and out from 6 in the morning till 9 in the night. Good infrastructure creates and supports an entire ecosystem. In Paro, the farmers market was the beating heart of the city.

In India, when we say farm infrastructure, we mostly mean production related infrastructure. When it comes to post-harvest, especially in urban or semi-urban areas, farm related infrastructure rarely makes it into the city planning. Our weekend fresh produce markets are, usually, a road that is closed off or just trespassed on.

Here are a few outcomes of this sort of planning.

1. One of the outcomes of this is as the farmer is rendered powerless once the produce is harvested. He/she is either disenfranchised from the value chain or is made a part only in informal, unstructured ways.

2. Agriculture, as a sector, is alienated from the consumer’s mind. While they care about the produce and will pay a premium for it, the farmer no longer has a role to play in this consumer ecosystem. His/her place is taken by hyperlocal deliveries and others.

3. It is proven that urban planning and designing of spaces affects and shapes people’s behaviour. By providing spaces for certain activities, you encourage and enable certain interactions. There is a need to make the people behind the produce visible; to acknowledge their struggles and to reward their efforts. There is no better way than to designate respectable spaces to them in our cities.

4. What comes with farmers is the understanding of what is seasonal; the logic behind seasonal price fluctuation of certain commodities and a peak into what climate is doing to our production systems and the people involved in it. Market linkage is not just a logistical issue, it is one of philosophy and one of sustainability across all its implied meanings.

5. There is an urgent need in how our understanding of farm infrastructure must change; how our agricultural budget and expenses must change; how should the demands, experiences and outlook of the consumers change and how should our urban spaces change. And, it can all begin with putting the producer at the center of our consumption ecosystem.

We are hoping to bring together policy makers, city planners and other stakeholders together to hold such discussions and contribute towards any small change that can be implemented on the ground.
If you have any thoughts or idea on farmers markets or want to write about ones that you have experienced, please write to us at connect@indianculinaryagenda.org