Vivek kumar (B.Sc.Agri)

GEHU , Dehradun

Introduction:

The introduction of the bill is based on the concept of “One India, One Agricultural Market”. It aims at opening the gates for farmers to the corporate world to create additional trading opportunities beyond the APMC market yards to help farmers to get remunerative prices due to additional competition.

1. Bill on agri market Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce(Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020

Provisions

👉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.

Opposition

👉States will lose revenue as they won't be able to collect 'mandi fees' if farmers sell their produce outside registered APMC markets.

👉What happens to 'commission agents' in states if entire farm trade moves out of mandis?

👉It may eventually end the MSP-based procurement system.

👉Electronic trading like in e-NAM uses physical 'mandi' structure. What will happen to e-NAM if 'mandis' are destroyed in absence of trading?

👉It will lead to the destruction of the mandi system.

2. Bill on contract farming The Farmer (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020

Provisions

👉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

👉Effective dispute resolution mechanism with redressal timelines.

Opposition

👉Farmers in contract farming arrangements will be the weaker players in terms of their ability to negotiate what they need.

👉The sponsors may not like to deal with a multitude of small and marginal farmers.

👉Being big private companies, exporters, wholesalers and processors, the sponsors will have an edge in disputes.

3.Bill relating to commodities
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020
Provisions
👉To remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. It will do away with the imposition of stockholding limits on such items except under "extraordinary circumstances" like war.
👉This provision will attract private sector/FDI into farm sector as it will remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in business operations.
👉To bring investment for farm infrastructure like cold storages, and modernising food supply chain.
👉To help both farmers and consumers by bringing in price stability.
👉To create competitive market environment and cut wastage of farm produce.
Opposition
👉Price limits for "extraordinary circumstances" are so high that they are likely to be never triggered.
👉Big companies will have the freedom to stock commodities- it means they will dictate terms to farmers which may lead to less prices for the cultivators.
👉Recent decision on export ban on onion creates doubt on its implementation.

Farmer's demands:

✋A roll back of all 3 ordinances.

✋The mandi system to remain in place.

✋Their loans be cleared.

✋A law should be made for msp to be at least 50 % more than the weighted avg. cost of production & if the msp is not paid , it should be a punishable crime.

✋A law should be put in place that gurantees payment from thr buyers through middleman that has always been the norm to ensure that banks don't deduct the money in the name of loan recovery.

How MSP affects farmers-

MSP is the minimum price paid by the government when it procures any crop from the farmers. It is announced by the state-run Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) for more than 22 commodities on an annual basis, after calculating the cost of cultivation.

Food Corporation of India

(FCI) which is the main state-run grain procurement agency .largely buys only paddy and wheat at these prices. The FCI then sells these foodgrains at highly subsidised prices to the poor and is thereafter compensated by the government for its losses.

What the government says:

The three farm laws have been projected by the government as major reforms in the agriculture sector that will remove middlemen and allow farmers to sell anywhere in the country. Until 2020, the first sale of agriculture produce could occur only at the mandis of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). However, after the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 came into force it allows farmers to sell outside APMC mandis in India

GOI OPINION ON FARM BILL 2020:

Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture, said both of the bills would fulfil the country's expectations and needs for agriculture.

The farmer will be attracted to relatively good crops, and his income will naturally increase if the farmer grows expensive crops, and he will also support agricultural growth.

"These bills would also help to export agriculture." Tomar said that small farmers are about 86 per cent. "When these farmers manage to know in advance the fixed price of their produce by some legislation they can do profit farming."

The Minimum Support Price (MSP) will not be impacted by these bills and this will help make farmers more advanced. "The MSP was, the MSP is, and in the future the MSP will continue."

Through these changes, farmers will directly link with the major traders and exporters, adding benefit to farming. "Those bills would bring revolutionary improvements to farmers' lives."

Through the bill, the Minister of Agriculture aims to provide a national structure for agricultural agreements that will protect and enable farmers to engage with agri-business companies, processors, wholesalers, exporters or major retailers.

That bill would bring independence to the agricultural sector.

These bills have no effect on the State APMC Act. "APMC will be in the state, but beyond its periphery, there will be inter-state trade, and farmers will be able to sell their goods from their field, home, and elsewhere after the law comes into being."

@Vesaliusvivek

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