Rich farmers now buy silver bars, not jewellery

``Traders say rural families are convinced silver will continue to spiral and therefore want to buy it in forms that are easy to encash later. Coins and bars, with guaranteed purity, make it easy. In 2010, silver outperformed gold in terms of returns, generating three times more. “The trend started just two months before Diwali. People now purchase blocks of silver weighing 500 grams to 10 kg.''