With the entry of foreign players from supermarkets, farmers in six lakh villages in India will benefit from increased market access, increased profitability, better technology and direct link with consumers.

"The direct purchase of farms has greatly benefited small farmers like us, they were not getting a good return by selling at the local mandi," said Abdul Majid, Malerkotla in Punjab, which has been selling vegetables from his farm an acre of Bharti Wal-Mart ever since it opened its first store in Amritsar cashand to transport. "The payments are credited directly into bank accounts that are free of commission agents."

Large retailers can expect to save 10% -15% commissions on the purchase of fruits and vegetables directly. Indian consumers pay up to two and half times the price paid to farmers, compared with one and half times in developed markets, where the penetration of organized retail is higher.

Farmers can also benefit from investment in logistics and supply chains of retailers and logistics companies. "There is a huge gap in price to the consumer and the retailer. APMC system is only used to the farmers," said Raju Shetti, leader of the Maharashtra farmers based on the association of Swabhimani Shetkari Sangathana.

Retailing has improved the quality of products worldwide, said Shrinivas Ramanujam, vice president, Adani Agri Fresh Limited, a logistics and storage apples supplying major brand retailers.

About 30% of India's total production of fruits and vegetables are lost each year due to inadequate cold storage and transport. Crisil Research estimates that nearly half of this waste can be prevented if fruit and vegetable retailers have access to specialized facilities in cold storage and refrigerated trucks.

Small traders, however, very concerned. "Small retailers can not withstand the competition. This will allow the monopoly of foreign players and farmers have to sell their products dictated solely by organized retail," said Changdevrao Holkar, a member of the board of the government-run National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation.

"The government should put in legislation such as small-scale industries, to protect small traders before allowing FDI in retail," said Ajit Setia, a merchant of brown sugar and President Merchants Chamber of Poona. "It may include provisions such as permission refused to sell below a minimum price as in Germany, to avoid unfair competition."

Small and medium enterprises are also concerned. "Foreign retailers will impact supply chains that are being fed by SMEs and there will be no displacement of SMEs, if unchecked," said Anil Bhardwaj, secretary general of the Federation of Indian Micro, Small and Medium companies. He said the government should start with the mandatory imposition of supply internal demand, as in the automotive sector. The provision of mandatory supply 30% of SMEs in the draft policy should also be gradually increased, he said.

"We'll have to close shop," said Sunil Kumar Gupta, president of the Kamla Nagar Market in New Delhi, expressing the concerns of the store owners' Kirana. He said that shops like yours survived the attack on national retailers like Big Bazaar, because of their customer relationships. "This can not work more," said.
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