Prof K Nageshwar: Why no Mandis in Kerala? (Video)

You can enroll as a voter for MLC elections now if you have not enrolled earlier. https://ceotserms1.telangana.gov.in/MLC/Form18.aspx , ? || Why no Mandis in Kerala? || The Prime Minister is either misled by his advisors or is deliberately resorting to deceit to mislead people of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has raised a question there are no APMCs and mandis in Kerala. So, why are there no protests in Kerala? Why don't they start a movement there? Let us examine the truth. Kerala never passed an APMC Act in its State Assembly (along with other States like Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur). The reason for not passing such legislation may be traced back to the predominance of spices and plantation crops in the cropping pattern. Kerala agriculture primarily revolves around commercial crops which occupy about 82 percent of the cultivated area. Crops like coconut, cashew, rubber, tea, coffee, different spices like pepper, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon etc are grown by farmers. These crops have had their own specialized marketing channels sponsored by the concerned commodity boards under by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India. Different Commodity Boards like Rubber Board, Spices Board, Coffee Board, Tea Board, and Coconut Development Board and a system of auctions are in place in the State. The prices of all these crops are dependent on the world market prices and except for one crop that is copra (Dry Coconut) the central government does not even announce any MSP. There is a system of auction and marketing for these crops but different Central Governments over the last 3 decades have been diluting and systematically dismantling the Commodity Boards though these crops earn huge foreign exchange. Proper funds are not allocated, appointments are not made and there have been instances of even Directors not being appointed for long time. Defunding these Commodity Boards by different Central Governments has led to a situation where they are rendered ineffective. The BJP and Congress Governments have entered into unequal Free Trade Agreements like the India-ASEAN FTA putting farmers lives in danger by allowing dumping of cheap produce leading to price crash here. The implementation of neoliberal policies has accentuated the crisis leading to many farmers committing suicide in Kerala earlier. As opposed to this approach of the Central Governments, Government in Kerala has stood with the farmers and assisted them in times of price crashes, through cooperatives helped in value addition and marketing. The extent of marketed surplus of other crops like paddy or fruits or vegetables was never significant enough to require large and regulated wholesale markets like the mandis under the APMC Acts. This does not mean that there are no agricultural markets with specified rules or regulations. There are a large number of such markets wholesale and retail governed by market rules notified by the State government from time to time.