Inderjeet Sambyal
India’s agriculture is akin to a huge aeroplane waiting to take off a long distance non-stop flight but without adequate fuel. Can it fly? The answer can be yes if agri-policy is reoriented to enable this. The contribution of agriculture to the country’s Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (2011-12 prices) is only 14 percent while nearly 47 percent of its population is engaged in the agriculture sector. Contrast this with non-agriculture which contributes 86 percent to GVA with 53 percent workforce. Implicit in this is agri-labour productivity is just 19 percent compared to that of non- agriculture which gets reflected in low levels of farm income compared to non-farm incomes. Though the country has moved from import-dependence to self-sufficiency and to a food exporting country, there has been no concomitant and equally commensurate impact on farmer’s incomes. There is, therefore, a need to reorient agri-policy to transform farmers’ lives. The Union Government and the State Governments together should adopt a seven-pronged strategy to enable farmers to ‘board the aeroplane’.Amid the coronavirus lockdown across the country that brought economic activity to a near halt, the Modi Government is expecting that agriculture sector could be a silver lining for the Indian economy as it is estimated to grow at a rate of 3 per cent for the year 2020-21, according to NITI Aayog. The three bills that were passed are the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill. The Government said that the bills would transform the agriculture sector. It would also raise the farmers’ income, the Centre said. Further the Government had also promised double farmers’ income by 2022 and the Centre said that the Bills will make the farmer independent of Government controlled markets and fetch them a better price for their produce. The Bills propose to create a system in which the farmers and traders can sell their purchase outside the Mandis. Further it also encourages intra-state trade and this proposes to reduce the cost of transportation. Further the Bill formulates a framework on the agreements that enable farmers to engage with agri-business companies, retailers, exporters for service and sale of produce while giving the farmer access to modern technology. It also provides benefits for the small and marginal farmers with less than five hectares of land. The Bill also will remove items such as cereals and pulses form the list of essential commodities and attract FDI.
* To create an ecosystem where farmers and traders enjoy the freedom to sell and purchase farm produce outside registered ‘mandis’ under states’ APMCs.
* To promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade of farmers’ produce
* To reduce marketing/transportation costs and help farmers in getting better prices
* To provide a facilitative framework for electronic trading.
Farmers can enter into a contract with agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for sale of future farming produce at a pre-agreed price
* Marginal and small farmers, with land less than five hectares, to gain via aggregation and contract (Marginal and small farmers account for 86% of total farmers in India)
* To transfer the risk of market unpredictability from farmers to sponsors
* To enable farmers to access modern tech and get better inputs
* To reduce cost of marketing and boost farmer’s income.
* Farmers can engage in direct marketing by eliminating intermediaries for full price realisation.
It aims at opening up agricultural sale and marketing outside the notified Agricultural Produce Market Committee or APMC mandis for farmers. It removes barriers to inter-State trade and provides a framework for electronic trading of agricultural produce.
It also prohibits State governments from collecting market fee, cess or levy for trade outside the APMC markets. This Bill relates to contract farming, providing a framework on trade agreements for the sale and purchase of farm produce.
Further the Bill formulates a framework on the agreements that enable farmers to engage with agri-business companies, retailers, exporters for service and sale of produce while giving the farmer access to modern technology.
It also provides benefits for the small and marginal farmers with less than five hectares of land. The Bill also will remove items such as cereals and pulses form the list of essential commodities and attract FDI. The Centre had promised to double farmers’ income by 2022. It says the Bills will make farmers independent of government-controlled markets and fetch them a better price for their produce.
(The author is State Spokes-person BJP JK UT)
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