APMC Full form is Agricultural Produce Market Committee, APMC was set-up by the state government of each state to provide a platform for the farmers to sell their agricultural produce. Such committees ensured that greedy intermediaries wouldn’t be able to exploit the farmers by paying them a petty amount for their agricultural produce and later sell them at higher prices. The farmers never got the benefit of their products and were compelled to take up more loans raking up huge debts in the process. The APMC marketing initiative has helped farmers across different states.
‘Top To Total’- Agriculture Scheme For Atmanirbhar Bharat
A definite need to improve the plight of the farmers was the reason that drove the government to bring a change by having APMC started in the 1950s. It was to ensure
- There is no exploitation of the farmers
- The farmers were able to get a fair price for their produce
The APMC provided many benefits to the farmers apart from the above mentioned two reasons for its set-up
- In the development of market yards to facilitate both the farmers and buyers
- Provide storage facilities such as godowns etc.
- Arrange for farmer markets to allow the farmers to sell their produce to the consumers directly
- Help control price fluctuations
- It facilitates auctions of the farmer’s produce
Issues in operating in an APMC market
- The farmer will need apmc permit
- Needs to own a shop or warehouse in that market
- A limited number of options and expensive as well
- Heavy investment has been made by the intermediaries
- The weighman, paddlers and hamals have to get a license to operate in the market
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We have led the bribe culture for procuring a license i.e. apmc permit and getting a shop in the APMC market etc.
The problems that were plaguing the previous APMC act were
- Regular elections are not held and hence mostly run by the bureaucrats
- The transactions run in the market are subject to market tax as well as cess.
Though several measures put across to rectify some of the issues by declaring minimum support prices for
- Cereals
- Pulses
- Oilseeds crops
But fruits and vegetables didn’t come under this support price.
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: Press Conference By Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
The New APMC act allows
- Farmers can now sell farmers-produce directly without having to bring it to the APMC market
- The right to sell to any buyer he wants
- If the farmer doesn’t sell in the APMC market, then he wouldn’t get the chance of running in the APMC election and be a part of the APMC marketing committee
- Other farmers, exporters, graders, processors, packers can now directly buy from the farmers and need not go to the APMC market
- State monopoly will be brought down and pave the way for private yards to run
- Permits will be provided for private yards
- There will direct-purchase centers for the farmers to trade and sell their produce
- Allowing public-private partnership in the management and development of such markets
- Better handling of the cold storage, pre-cooling facilities right to the packhouses for the farmer’s produce
- Increasing the responsibilities for the APMC
The dilution of the act will enable the farmers to sell directly without the middlemen and allow e-NAM linking all the markets for a unified national market set-up for the farmers so that they can secure better prices.
