NCP against hasty agri product reform

Pawar says stakeholders' views should be considered; Congress says APMC and direct sales route to be open

The Congress in Maharashtra is on the back foot with its partner in government, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), opposing the move to unilaterally decide on removing fruit and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee Act by January 15.

NCP chief and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had on Sunday said his party was in favour of reforms in the Agriculture Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) Act, but insisted that any decision in this regard should be taken after taking farmers, producers and traders into confidence. The government should not take any decision in haste as the interests of farmers, producers and traders should also be protected, he added.

APMC Act mandates that producers of fruit and vegetables cannot sell in the retail market without a licence. But Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had in December announced, among other things, all Congress-ruled states would remove fruit and vegetables from the APMC Act — a move that would let buyers go to producers directly.

APMCs clock an annual turnover of Rs 40,000 crore. After Pawar’s comments, the government has clarified that APMCs won’t be wound up but farmers would have a choice to sell fruit and vegetables through APMCs or directly.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan will on Thursday meet Pawar and various bodies of farmers, producers and traders before implementing APMC reforms.

State agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil on Tuesday allayed fears expressed by traders and producers on direct sales of fruit and vegetables, bypassing APMCs. “I want to clarify here that according to the reforms agenda announced by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, the state government is committed to do away with its discretionary powers and its undertakings in the operations of APMCs. The government will not fix the service charge or any other charges to be imposed by the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board on fruit and vegetables sold through APMCs,” he told Business Standard.

Farmers and producers can directly sell fruit and vegetables to the consumers after the reforms are implemented, he said. “However, APMCs won’t be wound up. Farmers will have a choice. They can continue to sell fruit and vegetables through APMCs but without any intervention from the government or the state agricultural marketing board. They can also directly brand and market their produce to consumers.”

Vikhe-Patil said the government would delist some more processed food items from APMCs from January 15. “As on date, four processed food items have already been delisted from APMCs. Another 40 processed foods would be delisted from January 15.”