Time for real action

Agriculture marketing reforms have been pending for long

The three legal reforms in agricultural marketing, announced as part of the Rs 20-trillion package for the economy, can be viewed essentially as pending work that will be pursued now. These involve amending the outmoded Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955; enacting a new Central statute to enable farmers to get remunerative prices by selling their produce anywhere in the country; and passing a contract farming law to legalise agreements between producers and end-users of farm products.

Efforts have for long been afoot to push these measures through with the cooperation of states because agricultural marketing is basically a state subject. But