Bidar: Will the proposed amendments to the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act be harmful to farmers or to traders? The issue has become a hot topic among farmers across the State.

The Act aims at liberalising agriculture produce trade. According to the State Government, it will allow private players to participate in wholesale and retail trade of agro produce, while retaining the market system established by the APMCs in various taluks and districts.

The crux of the legislation is that it will allow farmers to sell their ware to the highest bidder. It will help them sell agriculture produce across district and State boundaries. It aims at standardising taxes across districts and States.

The APMC system was introduced in some States in 1929.

The Royal Commission on Agriculture of 1926 recommended a cooperative system of agriculture trade. Its recommendations included setting up wholesale markets at the district levels.

Farmers and traders were supposed to sell and buy agro produce in these markets. It was not mandatory for farmers to sell their produce here.

The APMC Act of 1966 made it compulsory for farmers to sell their produce only through the APMCs. This, farmers' associations say, allowed the APMCs to monopolise the field. "Lack of competition in agriculture marketing has created problems. It has led to agriculture traders turning into moneylenders and harassing farmers. This needs to be changed. If there are more than one buyers, possibilities of farmers getting a better price is more," says Changal Reddy, general secretary of the Confederation of Indian Farmers' Associations. Twenty-one States have amended the law governing the APMC to allow private participation.

Farmers in these States have no complaints, says Mr. Reddy, who is a member of the central agriculture produce price fixing committee.

While about 2.5 lakh farmers had committed suicide across the country since 1990, but not a single trader did. This showed that agriculture is not loss making proposition by itself.

According to him, agriculture traders were opposing the amendments as they felt threatened that multinational companies may affect their business. Farmers' associations in 25 States were affiliated with the CIFA.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha secretary Shankarappa Patil Atiwal said, "A farmer sells toor at Rs. 18 a kg to the trader. A housewife buys toor dal at Rs. 35 a kg. If you consider that making toor dal from toor is not a costly process, it is clear that the trader is making profit as big as his cost price. We need to change it," he said. Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur believes the amendment will help farmers.

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