Centre to meet state agri ministers next week to discuss farm reforms

The new draft model APMC Act is expected to figure prominently in the discussions

To develop a pan-India common agriculture market which would help growers get a better price for their produce, the Central government along with the NITI Aayog and over 70- senior level officers from states would discuss agriculture marketing reforms next week.

The reforms which are critical to realise Prime Minister’s dream of doubling farmers’ income by 2022 have to carried on by the states as agriculture marketing is a state subject. 

The Centre has recently released a draft of a new model APMC Act that seeks to has proposed abrogation of the concept of notified market area and facilitating the setting up of private market yards, farmer-consumer markets, electronic trading platforms and also converting warehouses or silos into market sub-yards to provide better linkage to farmers and set-up a common national market. It is also working on a model Contract Farming Law.

“A key issue to be discussed during the meeting will be the draft of the new model APMC Act and how states can implement it in a fixed time-frame to help in creating a common national market,” a senior official said. He said quicker adoption of Electronic-National Agriculture Market platform (eNaM) is also expected to be figured in the meeting. 

So far, 417 markets spread across 13 states have been integrated with e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) against the set target of 400 markets by March, 2017. By March next year, the Centre plans to integrate 585 regulated mandis with the portal.

Soon, after the officials meeting, the national meeting of state agriculture ministers is scheduled to be held on April 24, where this issue of reforming the agriculture marketing in states will be further taken forward.

Meanwhile, on the draft of the new model APMC Act, officials said apart from denotifying mandis, the Act also enables any agriculture processing company, retail chains like Walmart and Big Bazaar, farmers’ cooperative with linkages to retail chains and Farmer-Producer Companies to purchase farm goods directly from farmers and growers outside the limits of any mandi or private market yard after obtaining a license for the same.

Centre, states discuss water scarcity issue
 

The Centre on Friday said it has held extensive discussions with more than 11 states the last few weeks to deal with any drinking water scarcity due to summer. “We are fully geared up to meet any eventuality and have assured the states of full help to meet the situation,” Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said. She said state governments have been directed to complete all pending water conservation projects under MGNREGA, water resources ministry, ministry of agriculture, etc before the onset of monsoon in June.