Thread by @ruchitgarg

Check this video first....did you notice handshakes under the handkerchief? If not, watch again...

If you want to learn what is happening, continue reading this thread (and RT this thread)

In mandi, Adatiya (trader) is supposed to do open bidding for farm produce, when a farmer brings it to the "gaddi" (platform where adatiya sits)

Open bidding, so that interested buyers can see the product, and hopefully outbid each other and hence farmer getting the best price

However open bidding rarely happens in reality.

When the farmer brings his crop, adatiya and his favourite buyers starts checking out product and negotiates products in plain sight under the handkerchief or a towel or maybe under kurta they may be wearing

When they shake hands, they are actually giving signals to each other by tapping and touching fingers in various combinations.

Buyer makes n offer, seller makes a counteroffer, they agree deal done, no one knows for how much.

Art of negotiation, which they have mastered.

Buyer and trader has mastered this art so very well that, they could be hugging each other and hands going back are tapping each other's shoulder to negotiate and deal is done!

The sad part is this -

Because the farmer don't know about what is getting negotiated, adatiya chooses to give him 'any' money he wants to, irrespective of what he may have negotiated under the handkerchief with the buyer.

I have seen first-hand where traders would note a different number on his notebook for the buyer (after the handshake) than what he is communicating to the farmer.

Once this handshake business is done, and the best of the farmer produce is offloaded to a favourite buyer of trader at discounted prices... then only open bidding starts.

But this open bidding is also fixed, in many cases

Trader invites a bunch of his 'friends' to bid as low as possible for the crop (in lieu of some favour). One of the bids will be the winning bid, for which transaction will take place.

By this time (3-4 hrs typically), full season worth of farmer crop is bought for almost nothing and sold by traders at much much higher value.

Whatever little money the farmer has made after all this cheating, he needs to pay commission to the trader.

If a farmer is new in the market or gaddi, he almost always gets haggled for the final money disbursement after a full day worth of exercise.

Season worth of hard work is gone just in front of the farmer, he cannot do anything.

So that's a brief about the handshake under the handkerchief in the mandi.

Have you seen this first hand? Please share your comments.

Not all traders/adatiya is the same, but this malpractice described above is very very prevalent, across mandis

If you know a farmer, ask him to download free mobile app from HFNKisan.com where farmer can post their crop for free and buyers across India directly contact, negotiate & buy products from farmers. No commission is charged by HFN.

No farmer should be left behind #HFN