Evolution of farmer produce market from zonal to district, to national

One-nation-one-market for farmers needs infra overhaul, may still be few years away

Around 55 years ago, the concept of zone bandi existed with the APMC Act, 1963, forcing farmers to sell their produce to a market yard in their district only. But Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman did an about turn on Friday when she announced a ‘one nation, one market’, which experts believe could take two-three years to materialise.

Commenting on the announcement, Siraj Hussain, former Union agriculture secretary, said, “One nation, one market will take 2-3 years to take a final shape because farmers and traders are used to dealing in a certain manner, which has to change. This is