(LiveMint)
The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is working on creating a common agricultural market that will improve the lot of farmers and the efficiencies of India’s notoriously inefficient farm-produce markets.
The government put out a model law proposing a fundamental reset in the way agricultural markets operate on 24 April. It proposes to replace existing fragmented and over-regulated markets for agricultural produce and allow farmers a wider choice of markets beyond the local mandi or wholesale markets.
“Our goal is to create a one-nation, one-market model for farmers, similar to what GST (the goods and services tax) is to taxation… a model of creative disruption for an efficient marketing system,” said Ashok Dalwai, additional secretary at the agriculture ministry and head of the committee that drafted the new model law on marketing of agricultural produce.
Agriculture marketing is a state subject and the centre can only propose a blueprint. The eventual rollout will depend on the state governments. A model Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) law was first proposed in 2003 but made little progress.
“Since last year we have been persuading states to liberalize agricultural trade, which will not only allow farmers to access a wide range of markets but also help them get better prices,” Dalwai said. “The prime minister himself briefed chief ministers on the reforms that are pending, fast-tracking the entire process.”
