APMCs to keep playing key role alongside alternative pvt agri markets: Indian Agri Min official

The age-old APMC mandis will continue to play its key role alongside alternative private market channels that will soon come up with the recent government reforms taken in the farm sector, a senior agriculture ministry official said on last Friday.

As part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package announced in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the government on June 5 promulgated the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 that seeks to provide for barrier-free trade of farmers' produce outside the state government notified markets.

"The ordinance has been brought to liberate the agri-markets further to create more alternative market channels to ensure farmers get remunerative prices for their produce, increase their income and reduce post-harvest losses," P K Swain, join secretary in the agriculture ministry, said addressing an Assocham organised webinar.

As the country has moved from deficit to surplus production post independence, the challenge now is how to monetise farmers' produce, he said.

While there are 10,000-odd regulated APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) mandis in the country besides village haats and procurement centres, private players are still lesser in numbers even though some reforms were taken in 2003 to encourage them to operate, he added.

Swain said the current reform further liberates the farm sector and provides huge opportunities for investment and direct marketing of farmers'' produce.

"We are not saying that APMCs are bad. They have done a good job and continue to play its role. We are only creating alternative market channels. This will help build a national agriculture market in the country," the official said.

Farmers are now free to sell their products outside the mandi boundaries which were an hindrance earlier. The supply-driven chain is modified to a demand driven supply chain as a result of these amendments, he added.

Senior representatives from companies such as ITC Foods, UPL Ltd, GD Foods (TOPS), NCDEX and Agribaazar said that there are huge opportunities for them to directly source raw materials from farmers and FPOs (farmers producers organisations) in the coming days.

UPL Ltd Global Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sagar Kaushik, ITC Foods Head (Procurement and Logistics) Shom Chatterjee, GD Foods (TOPS) Director Murli Manohar Krishna, Agri Bazaar Chief Business Officer Sarat Mulukutla, NCDEX Executive Vice President Aleen Mukherjee, and Bayer Crop Science Head (Agri Policy) Rajvir Rathi were present in the virtual meeting.