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APMC-Agricultural Produce Market Committee
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20/12/2020
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APMC-Agricultural Produce Market Committee
Agricultural Produce Market Committee is set-up by the state government of each state and APMC provide a platform for the farmers to sell their agricultural produce.
APMC 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.
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 go-downs 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
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.
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.