Ballari is famous, or infamous, for many things – Ballari brothers, mining scams, the Sonia Gandhi vs Sushma Swaraj election – but its agricultural produce market is not one of them. Located on prime land in the district headquarter, this mandi is no different from mandis all over Karnataka. Its size, infrastructure, system of auction, and record-keeping is better than most other states of India, except Punjab, Haryana, and some parts of Maharashtra. Like most states in the South, Karnataka enjoys better governance than most states in the north or the east. Besides, Karnataka was the first state to have its own Agricultural Price Commission.
So, this is not a bad place to test Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s grand promise: “MSP tha, hai aur rahega”. [Past, present or future – minimum support price is for real]. I visited this Mandi on 6 March to kick off the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s ‘MSP Dilao’ (Get me MSP) campaign. There was a good reason to begin with Karnataka. Harvesting and crop arrivals start 2-3 weeks earlier in the state than the rest of the country. Besides, there is little room for a centre-state blame game, since the same party rules at both the levels.
Also read: Why cleaning up FCI’s books won’t resolve India’s agriculture crisis or food subsidy bill
A look at ground reality
Mandi officials were prompt to hand us a printout of the price at which various agricultural commodities were sold (“tendered” in the mandi parlance) by the farmers that day. Eight of the 11 commodities traded on 6 March were from the list of 23 crops that enjoy MSP. Of those eight, only one – urad or black gram – was sold at or above the MSP. Make it two out of nine, since we were told sunflower seed was also sold above the MSP but was somehow missing from the official list. The remaining seven crops were sold below what the government of India officially assures the farmers to be the minimum price that the farmers must get and the government will support the farmers to secure. This included all the five major crops of that area: tur, makka, jowar, chana and bajra. This is what the price table looked like in Ballari on 6 March:
If you think Ballari might be an exception, it is not. More or less the same prices were found all over Karnataka markets for most crops. The average February price for bajra and maize was actually lower in the rest of the state than in Ballari. Only tur fetched a better price elsewhere. If you think this year is an exception, it is not. An average of the last three years (2017-18 to 2019-20) by the Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission shows that as much as 72 per cent of the agricultural produce in the state sells below the MSP. T N Prakash Kammardi, former chairperson of Karnataka Agricultural Price Commission, estimates that farmers of Karnataka lost Rs 3,119 crores last year due to distress sale below MSP.
Also read: Modi govt plans to procure more pulses this year to guard against inflation & help farmers
Dream price, not support price
What about the rest of the country? For an answer, I turned to my friend Sunil Tambe who has tracked agri markets for well over a decade. He mined Agmarknet, the official website that reports prices for each mandi on a daily basis and reached conclusions even more depressing than the picture gathered from Karnataka.
None of the major kharif (summer) crops, except paddy, fetched anything close to the assured minimum. If paddy did better, it was solely due to the government procurement in many states. Fine varieties of long-grain paddy, which are not covered by MSP, suffered badly and were sold at less than the MSP for ordinary PR variety. No state other than Haryana, not even Gujarat, procured bajra at the MSP. As a result, Bajra sold around Rs 1,300 against the official MSP of Rs 2,150. During the peak arrivals in the month of November, moong was sold for an average price of Rs 5,556, about Rs 1,600 below the official MSP.
We noted that in Ballari, urad was the only exception that fetched a price above MSP. But that was not so in the rest of the country at the time of peak arrivals in November. In that month, it sold for an average price of Rs 4,789 against the MSP of Rs 6,000. Similarly, tur or arhar sold at around Rs 4,500 to 5,000 against the MSP of Rs 6,000. The average price for maize was 1,354 against the MSP of Rs 1,850.
The marketing season for rabi has just begun, but the signs don’t look good. Wheat, the biggest crop of the season, is yet to be harvested. As in the case of paddy, it may get a decent price wherever the state procurement takes place. In other mandis, farmers could suffer a loss of Rs 300 to 500 below the official MSP of Rs 1,975. Mustard could be another exception, for the initial trends suggest that its market rate is hovering between Rs 200-300 above the MSP of Rs 4,625.
For all other crops, the MSP is the ‘maximum aspirational price’. Ragi season is nearly over and it has sold around a thousand rupees lower than the MSP of 3,295. Maize grown in winter is already in and is again selling between Rs 1,300 to Rs 1400, much below the MSP of Rs 1850. Barley is trickling in and the initial trend from Rajasthan shows it is selling around Rs 1,300 against the MSP of Rs 1,600. Jowar has also started coming to the market and the hybrid variety is getting about Rs 1,000 lower than the MSP of Rs 2,620. Chana or Bengal gram, the other big crop of the current season, is currently selling between Rs 4,400 and 4,800. That translates into a loss of Rs 300 to 700 per quintal, since the MSP is Rs 5,100.
My apologies for making you go through these painful details. But there is no other way of demonstrating that MSP is a fraud imposed on farmers, what is called “minimum” price is for all practical purposes a dream price, and that the “support” promised in the support price never arrives. There is no other way to explain why farmers do not believe paper assurances, and why they want nothing short of a legal guarantee of MSP.
To be sure, the situation was no better under previous governments. For the last five decades, MSP has always been a piece of paper for most farmers. The only difference is that we now have a Prime Minister who has the gumption to say: “MSP tha, hai, or rahega!”
You must be joking, Mr Prime Minister.
The author is a member of Jai Kisan Andolan and coordination committee of Samyukta Kisan Morcha. He is also the National President of Swaraj India. Views are personal.
Did the government procure these products at price below MSP? No? Then MSP is not a ‘fraud’.
If the government procures produce, it is bound to give MSP. The government is however not bound to procure produce. Price realization is simply a function of demand and supply. So if the product is selling for less than MSP on the open market it simply means that the government will be buying at a loss if they do procure it.
Now that Maharashtra has made it illegal to buy grain at a price lower than MSP for private traders, all we are going to see is a drop in quantity demanded. If the private trader can not make a profit, they are simply not going to buy grain from farmers. Yogendra Yadav probably knows this. He must have a very low opinion of his readers’ intelligence.
Mr YY seems to be a frustrated man blindly opposing Modi without reasoning He and his ilk are getting undeserved air time by platforms managed by anti Modi groups in print and digital media
He was for MSP earlier now he says it is myth for the past 50 yrs
He better consult his personal physician
If MSP is a fraud, why did he not talk about it till now? When he spoke , he and others wanted govt assure that MSP will continue. Offering opportunity to farmers to ALSO sell outside Mandi, if better prices are available, is harmful to Mandi middlemen. Middlemen fleece farmers and are supported by local political outfits. If farmers are unhappy with farm laws, why there are no protests except those of middle men cum farmers in NCR? Those who suspected surgical strikes, air strikes have their own agenda to oppose BJP even if the move is good for the country. It is pity that these individuals put their on selfish interests above national interest.
According to Niti Aayog, “The sub-agent of FCI is the Karnataka Food & Civil Supplies
Corporation (KFCSC) which carries out the procurements in the State under the MSP
operations. Paddy and other coarse grains are procured by KFCSC in order to prevent
distress sale by the farmers. Before the start of harvesting season or around the time of
harvest, the District Level Task Force Committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy
Commissioner meets and decides to open the procurement centers for MSP in the required
Blocks. The Agriculture Department in the district deputes trained Graders to these centres
and publicity is done about the opening of centres for procurement under MSP. The Graders
test the samples for FAQ standard requirements and on conformity to FAQ standards; the
produce of the farmers is purchased at MSP fixed for particular crop and variety. The
agency disburses the amount to the farmers by crossed cheques within a week or fortnight”
the issue is not with the MSP . It is with the farmer. Possibly he does not know about the existence of the MSP. Possibly he is financially destitute. Possibly he is indebted and paying 24% interest. He has alredy dead and lost the battle. That is 50 plus percent of India
I would say all parties have just exploited Indians n made money for themselves n their financiers…. but situation not is that the oldiee sitting in the center is of the believe that he is hitler in making n no one question him. Such things were never there although corruption n chorrigiri is in Indian blood n now its become more thick corrupt blood.
Yogendra Yadav is one of the biggest frauds. He was booted out of AAP, now needs his birth to be anulled
Where was this fake farmer Yogendra Yadav so far? If the MSP happens to be a fraud, why he is instigating the farmers to seek legal sanctity thereto?
If private sector is so bad, may be the farmers should demand the nationalization of farming.
yes, agree MSP is a fraud and should do away with, Why we need MSP at all. does HUL or Colgate get a MSP for its consumer products then why a farmer should get it ? they are also manufacturers like any other.
I do not understand by growing food , does farmer does any favour to rest of the society. why this victimhood. only Anndata is the taxpayer who is providing substinace to a profession like agriculture which can’t stand on its own feet.
it would be best if the government did away with fixed salaries – increments and retirement benefits. Everyone will be equal. Hire and fire at the mercy of the corporate
I agree. Msp is not their right. Its just support from the government. This is what happens when people start taking support as their right. If they cannot sell their produce, they better do something else. They want everything on a platter.
They pay no tax. Actully govemust ask tax payers how much support they approve.
No, we all are the taxpayesr who must pay lagan so that a chai wala fakeer can tour the world in 8000 crore plane. Do you understand that, Mr understander!
True….
.Why are farmers and defence forces people portrayed as the ONLY people serving society and the country? What do they think the rest of us are doing? We are working too, to support and pay for their upkeep by buying their products/services and subsidising them, where necessary, with our taxes.
Regarding Mr Yadav’s delayed insight: what was he doing for the past five decades if he thinks MSP was not working since long? It didn’t matter to him then because it didn’t aid his new found love for politics and ambition? He used to be the most rational commentator before he joined politics; now he appears to have lost his marbles
Just came here for the comments section 😂
For this opinion piece to make perfect sense, in the title, replace the letters ‘MSP’ with the letters ‘ YY’.
I thought this guy was fighting for rich punjabi farmer, where is the data for punjabi famers? It makes sense him for him to fight instead for the poor Karnataka farmer. Unless his goal in life is to fight for something.
Here comes the co conspirator of 26 January mayhem.
For all the data, supplied by this gentleman, it becomes more essential that contract farming should be implemented ASAP, so that farmers can sell their produce, where it fetches maximum price.
is he not the same guy who said kalank of jan 26 has been wiped out by Rakesh tieket crying. has this guy ever wondered where the money to support MSP comes from ? does it fall from sky ? worst leaders ever.
MSP is for what???. When said rice ..all variety of rice is same . If same variety is grown by different people & in place , out put will be same, then it’s Ok. MsP depend upon the farmer, place, inputs, supply & hard work etc Moreover MSP price is for private or for public. If some one want to sell instantly, what happen to MSP. MSP is fixed depending upon some standard. When MsP is fixed ,you should not ,sell for more.
People argue for to time pass, knowingly …no end for argument . INSTEAD BRING ALL POINTS & forward to SC. If solution to be found
Immidietly, after 3 laws, most of them were .happy….after 2..3 days ,they changed their colour.
the SC of which party ?
The first thing with MSP is that it determines the price of a COMMODITY arbitrarily whereas the only thing that can determine their price is the dynamics of demand and supply. The only thing the farmers can claim as a right (even though this itself is disagreeable) is their labour and any charges on the utilization of their land. Also, the MSP, instead of addressing the poverty among small farmers, actually helps the richer ones. As it is proportional to the size of the landholding and hence the agricultural produce, a rich large farmer also gets the most money from the government which is untenable as these as part of social welfare measures paid for by taxpayers. Instead, the govt must abandon MSP-based procurement and shift to a direct benefit transfer one which CATERS ONLY TO LANDLESS LABOURERS AND FARMERS WITH LANDHOLDING UPTO 10-15 ACRES. This would allow us to protect the most vulnerable while still saving large amounts of money dumped in subsidies etc. Also as ex RBI chief Rangarajan has written on IE today, FPOs must be promoted by the govt and encouraged to pool land resources among small farmers to bring economies of scale and also encourage them to set up small-scale post-processing industries for their own agri produce.
Mr Shekar Gupta, please ensure that when ‘Andolan Jeevis’, ‘Par Jeevis’ & ‘propaganda Jeevis’ like HS Panag, Yogendra Yadav & Shyam Saran write articles on your platform, force them to respond to the comments too. Don’t allow your platform to be used for shoot & scoot propaganda of the venal Congress parjeevis.
If MSP was fraud since last 50 years, why are you protesting now? Why weren’t you protesting since last 50 years?
Why comments are disabled
Just came here for chuckles.
Author reminds of movie raja babu. Where govinda changes many avatar.
Read few lines and looks like datajivi is morphing into MSPjivi.
At this pace we will run out of all jivi nomenclature English and Hindi combined.
Just take a break and be breakjivi for sometime.
MSP is the minimum price at which government would procure crops. The other players are not bound by it. The mandis suppress the prices if crops not procured by govt. So, there is a need for competition which is provided by the farm laws.
Basically, I feel I know better economics and functioning of msp than yogendra yadav
Sonamji. For the benefit of people who are still not cleat on the new farm laws can ypu pl share your knowledge on this. For eg Sh. Chengal Reddy , perhaps the only farm leader representing AP & Telengana farmers has no issue on the new farm laws and said that in.the two states the farmers get reqd prices for the crops say Red chillies despite no MSP. If u can pl share ur knowledge it’ll help all to cointer fake propogandists. Tks. Rgs.
which businessman pays more for anything he believes he can get for nothing? What the government needs to do is remove fixed salaries – annual increments – retirement benefits – and job security. All will be equal
It is quite evident from this analysis by Mr Yogendra Yadav that the MSP is the problem and therefore it can’t be the solution. No production system works efficiently with guaranteed prices.
For giving protection to farming, subventions in the form of per unit production can be given to every farmer and this should be more for those crops which consume less water, those which are imported, and crops suitable for a particular agro-climatic zone.
Mr Yadav wow hypocrisy at it’s best. In several tv debates he said the least government should do is provide MSP. Even farmers protest they were demanding MSP should be included in the law. Now Mr Uafsv says MSP is fraud. The thing is he is losing his plot out of sheer and blind hatred towards Modi. I am no bhakt but this is heights
Of stupidity
Just wailing about Modi is not going to solve the problem.
What about power, water, fertiliser subsidies? What about agricultural tax? How do they fit in with the MSP scheme?
Dear sir Tur never sold blelow 6000 this year it’s near 7000 now he said price is lowest bid you never mentioned highest bid of a lot market always has low to high it depends on quality of crop and it’s virety chana price is from 4800 to 5400 don’t fool people by quoting low grade crop as FAQ grade before writing articles you must visit cattle fair you will come to know how price of cow bull calf are set on their physical condition their size their bread calf never fetch same money of bull to get better price you need better quality sir I am farmer from yadgir dist near by ballery you visited
Same PM is not taking back the agri reforms which provide option to farmers !! you wont’ write that …it only known to give skewed openion against BJP govt
isolated anecdot are not used for the national policy making, nationla data is used fro national policy making, state data is used for state policy making, district data is used fro district level policy making. Yogendra Yadav use to champion msp before and now he barks against it, he is fraud.
Yogendra yadav is itself a fraud .
Why Yogendra Yadav is a fraud :
The current system of MSP includes cuts for middle-men (arthiyas). These are the same people who have drummed up rehtoric against the farm laws because, a farmer being empowered to sell produce directly to private companies can eliminate their ill-gotten gains.
The farm laws will ensure that the farmers get the actual price their produce is sold at, without middlemen. Now Mr. Yogendra Yadav despite knowing all this, is claiming foul in the difference between MSP and price received by farmers. If you really care about realization of MSP in hands of farmers, support the farm laws. Stop lying and obfuscating facts.
PS – Dear Mr. SG, If you are not going to fact check opinion pieces, please do not let folks like YY make it a tool for propoganda.
What do u really want Mr yogendra yadav.. do u want my paycheck directly divided and transferred to faceless farmers?.. please let us know how would u encourage price discovery.. how would u encourage farmers to be innovative
and protect the farmers if the bet goes bad.. How do u enhance storage to insulate the supply shocks .. how can u predict the market demand. How to make farmers understand market dynamics..
The answer to all these questions is data and large quantity of it to analyse.. and smarter people to connect with farmers .status quo in farming in our country is a curse on our future generations.
Any and every experimentation must be debated and implemented.. just blaming modi because he is pm and u don’t personally like him will get u neither popularity nor respect..
Govt procuring foodgrains from farmers is a fraud on taxpayers money. The practices should be made illegal.
Govt got no business in any business.
You are fraud! cancel your birth
Yogendra Yadav is a fraud. Trying to build his political career. The farming in India is completely messed up. Small farmers holding suboptimal land. Middlemen siphoning off the profits. If everyone gets MSP, the tax money will be completely wasted on crop which nobody needs. The need is for sustainable farming with direct benefit to farmers, eliminate middlemen, good protection against corporate fleecing and proper regulation. Repeal of the laws does not serve any purpose. It is a good beginning.
Why is the market price of almost all crops below the MSP?? Has the MSP been arbitarily fixed at too high a point? Or is there a glut in the market for these crops?
How would bringing a law for MSP solve this problem?
Mr.Yadav has not provided any answers to the basic question of ‘Why’?
This man is a big fraud. He wanted to intrude into AAP but couldn’t. Again he tried his luck in so many ways and political platforms. No he talks about msp. MSP must be arrived at taking into consideration of various subsidies extended to farmers vid fertilizers, pesticides, tractor purchase subsidy and so on. Above all their total income is exempt from income tax. Who carry their burden. Answer is tax payers. Now for the first time in independent india people started enjoying the fruits of hard earned freedom. By direct credit to bank accounts govt eliminated middle men who served as parasites. Like wise PM wants to eliminate middle men in farm sector for which these middle men lobby oppose govt. This is the fate of India.
This clearly shows why the new agriculture laws are pertinent. There is absolutely no depth when it comes to wholesale trade in India, much of which is dominated by unorganized players.
These laws help bring in organized players and big capital, and with more players in the market, and the ensuing competition among the same, the farmers will without a doubt get better prices.
Bhai tum kehna kya chahte ho!! MSP fraud hain …. aur uska kayada laane ke liye aandolan …
Kuch bhi samaz nahi aa raha hai
But can there ever be a better fraud than yogendra yadhav himself??
Honourable YadavjI, should know there is one of the Famous unwritten law–LAW OF KARMA — that operates . Farmers in India or any where in the world , or persons engaged in any other profession , business or service get or paid for what they offer to others.Most of the farmers, specially those who are under your influence — (1) do not pay remunerative wages to workers , mainly migrants from poor states of India , (2) Most of them do not repay loans to financial institutions and Banks and even refused to repay personal loans taken from friends and relatives also. . (3) Do not pay Income Tax their income . (3) Supply agro-products in very poor quality and packaging. ( mix up good and bad quality produce to earn higher income. . in other activities like selling of milk– mostly milk supplied is of poor quality and adequately water is mixed by them. Even dirty water is mixed . That is why LAW OF KARMA starts to operate against them. Many of them indulge into bad activities and spend such bad money earned on liquor , gambling , personal fights , litigation etc and in due coarse are deprived of their land holdings and source of Income. etc. Even mother nature start punishing them by bad mansoons, famines, floods, etc to bring them to justice. yours is only a POLITICAL BATTLE ,where people like you have misled rich farmers of north India , having NO ECONOMIC , LEGISLATIVE OR SPIRITUAL LOGIC. You and some of behind the scene – operatives are using farmers as front line mercenaries foot solders . Once you are convinces you can not win you will be first person to ditch them. Your working as election expert, part time journalist-cum- politico left preacher, participation in Anna movement, CAA agitation all point towards your personal professional movement . HARVESTING SEASON HAS ARRIVED in most of north India , please allow farmers to go back to their farms and homes . Google some other point to start AANDOLAAN (agitation ) , after some days of RERST.
The prices of commodites should be govern by Demand Supply gap, not by any blanket mechanism which involves artificial suport of money from tax payer class. The commodites which are in abundance and not in demand , should not be produced at first place.When buffer stock is more than double for many commodities, why it get produced at first place? Just for sake of MSP? Why to pump tax payer money to support price for such stuff, which nobody want to pay , especially end user consumer and tax payers? Please note, there is a limit by which tax payer can take this burden on their shoulder. Crumbling of whole system just for sake of MSP, that too for poor demanded commodities should not allow to take place. Better produce those items which our country is importing from foreign.It will not only save MSP money, but also foreign exchange.
The English reading people are unlikely to be swayed by the contents above, shrouded in figures and playing the victim card.
Now the “HAMARE DO” seems to have disappeared from the narrative.
The Prime Minister has been elected to be abused, no problem we all should do it and surely he will not mind it.
An effective narration would have been to list 10 points from the laws and set out correction to them.
Also justifying why the FCI payment should not to the farmers’ account directly instead of through middlemen “THE DALALIJEEVIS”
Yogendra Yadav, Tikhait and the other so-called farm leaders are either Arthiyas themselves with huge landholdings or Dalals for the Dalals ie rent-seeking extortionists who bring economic life to a standstill through extortionate practices. The way to end this once and for all is to confront them on the very streets they’ve camped.
The learned author is living in a kind of a utopian dream. Can the government afford to buy all the food grain produced in the country at the declared MSP rates? What would the government do of such kind of voluminous purchases? Should they be rotting in FCI ? MSP is a kind of support or a helping hand. This cannot be blown out of proportion to include all food grains production to be mandatorily purchased by the government. I suggest that MSP should be substituted with a kind of cash benefit scheme for all farmers, so that there is no discrimination and the practice of farmers belonging to one particular region, say Punjab, Haryana and Western U.P. are only benefitted and others are ignored, is discontinued.
Mr. Yogendra Yadav, When MSP is published and openly quoted, it will be purchased at that level only. There is government procurement at MSP. Now govt procurement is not unlimited and open at all times. Any schoolgoing child can understand that. But you unfortunately are hell bent upon creating a wrong narrative in the minds of people.
By the way why did you scoot from Delhi border? Tikait ne bhagadiya Kya?
this is called twisted logic. When everyone said that MSP is benefitting only few farmer’s the author was trying to tell it is not the case. Now the author wants to use this fact to support his argument. If all farmer’s are not getting MSP now why so much opposition to new bills.
The MSP is indeed a fraud, on the taxpayers and the consumers of India. The so-called Swaminathan committee report does not take into account the input costs escalation resulting from perpetual fragmentation of size of agricultural landholding as well as the abusive behaviour of some farming communities that dump subsidized fertilizers and free water resources, adding to the burden on taxpayers. If farmers find farming unlucrative, they must quit farming and move elsewhere instead of expecting a minuscule proportion of the population that pays taxes honestly to bear this unjust burden, even as the Arthiyas and large farm landholders pay no Direct taxes whatsoever. Also, the Mandis run by state govts cannot tax the central govt for procuring produce from their state because that would mean state govts taxing taxpayers from other states which is unconstitutional. We can’t and won’t pay taxes and commissions to Punjab state govt or its Arthiyas.
Today yoya is an agriculturist.
Till the other day everyone was crying about MSP. Now since Modi said he will deposit farmers the MSP directly now you are saying it’s wrong. When you hate Modi you can always twist anything he does. It’s all narrative. For leftists like you anything Modi does is not kosher. So can I expect better article? I doubt it!
The rest of the people are happy with the way things are – they are happy to agree with the PM on everything, they are happy to vote for him even if they are suffering losses, they are happy to quote his speeches even if their children have no future, they are happy to be indignant on his behalf and blame Nehru for everything even while Modi’s friends gobble up all of India’s assets. Why do you bother? Just chill.
Get lost Aandolanjeevi. You have 0 credibility. Nobody reads your articles.
Andolan jeevi batting on both sides!!
Hasn’t been able to win a Panchayat seat. Never knows what government working is. Tries to advice the PM of the biggest democracy of the world who has returned with a thumping mandate.
Just google – Arthiyas Strike or Arthiyas agitation and you’ll see how this andolanjeevi got together with the middlemen to deny farmers a just price for their produce.
OK, Mr. Yadav. There is no MSP. Agreed. Then what is this to do with the three farm laws you are opposing. Why you are requesting these to be withdrawn?
Mr Yogendra, being a business major I can tell :
1. MSP on paper has no relevance if it is not enforced by law
2. Market price is based on demand and supply, when. Markets are free to set price accordingly
3. Mandis are fiefdom of middle man who decide what price they want, thats why Modi plan to remove these middle man by removing mandis from the system
You are smart and have experience- tell us what is the solution. Modi Govt atleast tried to solve the problem, maintaining what has happened in past is what you are supporting.
Why must rants of this fake farmer be imposed on us at periodic intervals? Is there a shortage of genuine farmers who can write on the subject?
This guy is a crack needing psychiatric treatment. 2 Months ago he was agitating with farmers for MSP & repeal of Farm laws and now here he says MSP is a fraud. Such people have sold off the country. Any media giving them coverage or any importance are actually FRAUD.