Centre’s new law aims at agricultural reforms, clips APMC wings

New Delhi, April 24 (IANS) In a major move aimed at bringing about reforms in the agriculture sector, the central government on Monday came out with a draft model act for the states, which envisages ending monopoly of traditional APMC markets.

While aiming to curtail the monopoly of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)-run markets, it allows private players to set up wholesale markets and lays emphasis on promoting electronic trading.

The act -- Agricultural Produce and Live Stock Marketing (Promotion & Felicitation) Act, 2017 -- limits market fee to one per cent for perishable items, such as fruit and vegetables, and two per cent for non-perishable items like food grain.

"The reforms will help the farmers sell their produce wherever they get better price and it will help us in fulfilling the dream of doubling farmers's income by 2022," Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh told the media after sharing the draft act with state agriculture ministers and officials at a day-long meeting here.

Singh said at least 24 states have said that they would adopt the new law, while other states have given in-principle approval.

Incidentally, Bihar -- the home state of Singh -- has not shown interest towards adopting the law in the state, Singh said.

It is only states which can enact laws related to agriculture since it is a state subject.

With the new model law, the APMC market will also lose its regulatory powers.

It includes establishment of private market yards and markets, direct marketing -- direct purchase of agricultural produce from farmers, consumers' or farmers' market to facilitate direct sale of agricultural produce to consumers and contract farming.

In addition, there is a provision to promote and permit e-trading, single-point levy of market fee, single licence for trading in more than one market.

The model law also excludes fruits and vegetables from the purview of the APMC Act.

According to Singh, the act provides only one market provision at the state level and promotes "ease of doing business" model to facilitate direct marketing and private sector markets.

It would also allow farmers to participate in the market management by conducting elections, he added.

Singh also said that the electronic trade platform -- eNAM -- had been made competitive and Mandi fee and commission charges rationalised.

Currently, regularised market is available at every 462 sq.km while as per the recommendations of National Commission, ideally, a regulated market should be available to farmers within a radius of five Km.

In order to achieve the target, Singh said provision of declaring godowns and old storage as market had been made.

Since the eNAM was launched in April last year, at least 417 APMC markets have joined the platform with trade of about six million tonnes of 69 types of commodities.

According to the minister, four million farmers and over 90,000 traders have joined the platform.