June 6, 2020
The Union government has approved ‘The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020’. This is the result of the announcement made by Union FM Nirmala Sitharaman for easing restrictions under the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act.
According to government statement, ‘The Ordinance will create a balance in ecosystem whereby the farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce. It will also promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations’.
Under current APMC Act, Indian farmers have to face various limitations in marketing their agri-produce. There are certain restrictions whereby farmers are restricted to sell their agri-produce outside the notified APMC market yards and are permitted to sell the produce only to registered licensees of the state governments. Further, there are barriers that are present in free flow of agriculture produce between various states owing to the prevalence of various APMC legislations enacted by the state governments time and again.
“It will open more choices for the farmer, reduce marketing costs for the farmers and help them in getting better prices. It will also help farmers of regions with surplus produce to get better prices and consumers of regions with shortages, lower prices. The ordinance also proposes an electronic trading in transaction platform for ensuring a seamless trade electronically,” says an official statement of the government.
The statement added that the farmers will not be charged any cess or levy for sale of their produce under this Act. Further there will be a separate dispute resolution mechanism for the farmers.
A senior official with the government informed that the ordinance basically aimed at creating additional trading opportunities outside the APMC market yards to help farmers get remunerative prices due to additional competition. This will supplement the existing MSP procurement system which is providing stable income to farmers.