The blame is that the reason for taxation is to promoted private players than farmer's co-operative. "Absolutely rubbish," said Jeetubhai Patel, another farmer who is into contract farming in Mehsana. "How does it matter to them who the buyers are? In fact they should be happy that the farmers are getting better price. Ultimately they buy the product from us at a cheaper rate and resell at a higher rate to the private players only. If we can do it directly, what pinches them?" he asked.

He believes APMCs have been the biggest problem in development of agriculture and bankruptcy of farmers. "Earlier, it used to be our lifeline. We used to get every help from APMCs and its members including advises, what should be the ideal crop pattern and also a good price. Now it is nothing but a profit making firm and accountable to no body, not even to the courts," he thundered.

Not many, though, are taking the allegations in its face value. "There are disgruntled people in every sphere and we are no exception. I would say no other organization has helped farmers the way APMCs did and even today we exist for the farmers," said Ramniklal Panchal, a trader in Kadi.