Minakshi Mishra

 Amendment to the Essential Commodities Act ------------------------------------------------------------- Agric Sector looks forward to dynamic transformation Minakshi Mishra - In a milestone move, the Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi gave its nod towards the amendment of the Essential Commodities Act. The historic approval promises to bring winds of change in the agriculture sector and a notable rise in the income of the farmers as a whole. This historic Amendment to the Essential Commodities Act does away with all existing obstacles flagging a new route for the complete economic benefit of the rural sector by encouraging entrepreneurial spirit. The Amendment does away with: Bottlenecks in investment in cold storage, processing and export. Enables farmer's to get better prices for agric surplus. Brings Cold storage and processing facilities to prevent wastage. The Takeaways With this visionary approval, commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes cease to be in the list of essential commodities, encouraging private investors to invest in the rural sector without any fear of extreme regulatory interference. The Amendment opens the doors to large-scale investments by the private sector, including huge foreign investments. The sector can now look forward to visionary development with new strides in fruitful investments in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain. Future investments in cold storage, processing and supply chain are sure to advance every sector of farming and agriculture, including the freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply. Historic approval safeguards consumers interests The Amendment while liberalizing the regulatory environment, also ensures that interests of the consumers remain protected by exempting the established capacity of a value chain participant and the export demand of an exporter from any stock limit imposition in situations of war, famine, extraordinary price rise and natural calamity. This will expectedly encourage future investments in agriculture. The sector now looks forward to price stability, ample storage facilities and zero wastage of agric produce. An obstacle-free road ahead By approving 'The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020', the Cabinet paves the road ahead, to barrier-free trade in agriculture produce. The new Ordinance ameliorates the situation of the farmers, by doing away with various constraints that come in the way of marketing the produce. Farmers can now forget limitations in selling agri-produce outside the notified APMC market yards, and also the order to sell the products, only to registered licensees of the State Governments. Various bottlenecks restricting the free flow of agriculture produce between various States owing to the prevalence of various APMC legislation put in place by the State Governments will also cease with the Ordinance in force. Thus, the ordinance facilitates a favourable ecosystem to benefit both farmers and traders. It will now be a win-win situation for all concerned, where the farmers and traders will enjoy the freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce. The historic step will effect far-reaching changes by unlocking regulatory practices in the agriculture markets. The Ordinance stands to support a barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce, exceeding the borders of markets under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations notifications. Benefits: More choices for farmers. Reduction in marketing costs. Better prices for produce. Price regulation to benefit farmers with surplus produce. Consumers facing shortages to get produce at a lower price. Taking forward the vision of a technically-forward India, the ordinance also proposes electronic trading in transaction platforms ensuring seamless electronic trade. Envisioning One India, One Agriculture Market, The Ordinance looks ahead to creating additional trading opportunities outside the APMC market yards to help realize the long-standing dream of the farmers to get remunerative prices due to additional competition. The historic Amendment is the first step towards building a strong future for the farmers of India. By approving ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020’, the Cabinet places the baton in the hands of the Farmers, enabling them to directly engage with processors, aggregators, wholesalers, large retailers, exporters. Thus farmers will gain in the long run and rest their worries of exploitation. The traditional bottlenecks in India's agricultural sector include fragmentation due to smallholding sizes, dependence on the uncertainties of weather, production and unpredictability of the market. These have projected the sector as risky and inefficient both in input and output management. Today the farmer's have the power to engage with processors, aggregators, large retailers, exporters and others in a transparent platform sans any shadow of exploitation. The Ordinance transfers the risk of market unpredictability from the farmer to the sponsor and also enables the farmer to access modern technology and better inputs. It will reduce the cost of marketing and improve the income of farmers. Acting as a stimulus, the Ordinance will be inviting private sector investment for building supply chains for supplying Indian farm produce for the global platform. With access to technology and advice for high-value agriculture and ready markets for such products, farmer's can look forward to reaping immense benefits. Direct marketing will also eliminate intermediaries resulting in a full realization of prices for the farmers. Moreover, the amendment will also provide the farmers with adequate protection and effective dispute resolution mechanism with clear timelines for grievance redressal. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan committed to the cause of farmer welfare The Government of India had announced a slew of schemes primarily to profit the agricultural sector. The steps announced as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan endeavoured to provide a shot in the arm to the people in agriculture and allied activities. The steps include the provision of concessional credit through Kisan Credit Cards, financing facility for agri-infra projects, Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana and other measures to strengthen fisheries, vaccination against Foot & Mouth Disease and Brucellosis, Herbal Cultivation promotion, boost to beekeeping, Operation Green etc. The measures taken through PM KISAN has benefitted over 9.25 crore farmer families. The Government has disbursed an amount of Rs. 18,517 crore during the lockdown period itself. Further, under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana, the government has funded an amount of Rs 6003.6 crore to the tillers of the soil during the period. As the vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat takes off to new heights, the future of hope beckons the farmers of India. ********