Context: The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has recently released the draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAM). Samyukt Kisan Morcha (umbrella organisation of farmers’ outfits) has raised concerns regarding the new draft Policy, labelling them worse than the three repealed farm laws.
Relevance of the Topic: Mains: Draft National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing -Salient Features.
Policy Interventions in the new draft NPFAM
1. Market Architecture:
- Market density: minimum one market for 80 sq.km area.
- Farm-Gate Accessibility: Warehouses and cold storages to be declared sub-market yards.
- At least one private market per revenue division to be introduced.
- Grameen Haat Development: Annually, 300 Grameen Haats to be developed into GrAMs, with 50 in hilly/North-Eastern regions.
- Futures Trade Integration: DA&FW to work with SEBI to integrate more Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with futures platforms.
- e-NAM Integration: APMC markets and private markets to be linked to the e-NAM platform.
2. Agri-Value Chain and Marketing Infrastructure:
- Establish Infrastructure Gap Analysis Committees (IGACs) at the district level.
- Constitute state-level IGACs to oversee the process of gap analysis.
3. APMC Reforms:
- Dedicated spaces within APMC markets for organic and natural farming produce.
- APMCs should evolve beyond regulatory enforcement and fee collection to offer value-added services.
- Infrastructure development in PPP mode.
4. Export-Oriented APMCs:
- States to identify potential APMCs for export-oriented development.
- Dept. of Agriculture to provide technical and financial support.
5. Professional management of APMCs:
- Appointing qualified secretaries for APMCs, with expertise in agri-value chain services.
6. Digitisation and Ease of Doing Agri-Trade:
- Collaborate with state governments to digitize processes across all states/UTs.
- Reducing turnaround time and delays in the supply chain.
- Indexing for Ease of Doing Agri-Trade (sharing regular updates with states)
7. Robust Market Information & Intelligence System:
- Develop Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) on federated model in the name of “Market-Stack Or Unified National Market Portal (UNMP)” on the lines of Agri-Stack.
- Market Information Registry: capturing accurate and real time data at states’ level with respect to prices and arrivals.
8. Market/Price- Risk Mitigating Measures:
- Contract Farming as Tools for Market and Price Risk Mitigation.
- Market linkage through FPOs.
- Price Insurance Scheme on the lines of PM- Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
9. Marketing System for North-Eastern and Hilly Region:
- Create market ecosystems tailored to local needs while supporting regional, national, and international value chains.
- Emphasise branding, packaging, quality testing, certification, and organic/natural produce marketing.
- Focus on fruits, vegetables, spices, medicinal plants, and black scented rice.
- Branding as organic produce for domestic and international markets.
10. Marketing System for States/ UTs with No APMC Acts:
- DA&FW to collaborate with states/UTs to identify and strengthen potential non-regulated wholesale markets and grameen haats.
- Integrate upgraded markets with eNAM.
11. Capacity Building:
- Market Committees to undertake awareness programmes among the farmers.
- Prepare strategic training programmes for marketing personnel and marketing functionaries.
Concerns raised about the Draft Policy:
- Impact on federalism: Implementation of new draft policy might erode the power of states to regulate agri-marketing within their state.
- Endanger farmers: Farmers might not have bargaining power with private storage infrastructures during price volatility.
- Uniformity affects diversity: neglects the different aspirations of farmers in different states.
- Ignoring price assurances: Lack of provision for minimum support prices or to support farmers during distress sale.