While addressing a press conference on ‘Empowerment of Farmers’ recently in Panaji, Goa, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has informed that the three Farm Reform Laws are going to modify the fate of agriculture in India. The new laws will remove the fundamental problems bedeviling the agri sector.
The minister said- “The farmer who has been underprivileged for several years, will now be authorized with the right to fix the selling price of his agricultural produce. He will also have the alternative of selling his produce in the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) or in a free market.”
The Farm Reform Laws are in accordance with the government’s prospect of ‘One Nation-One Market’. With GST, we now have ‘One Nation- One Tax’, by institution of National Testing Agency we have ‘One Nation-One Examination’ and also the recently declared ‘One Nation-One Ration Card’ Scheme. So, in that line the Farm Laws will lead to the generation of ‘One Nation One Market’, notified Javadekar.
Via the new reforms, under contract farming, it will be made sure that the possession will remain with the farmers, the contract will only be limited to the crops. Contract farming will introduce new seeds, new investment, and new technology.
Since years, low productivity is the biggest trouble encountered by our farmers. With the growth of investment, the use of technology and new seeds, productivity will be magnified.
The aim of agricultural reforms is to strengthen our farmers and augment agricultural productivity by adopting new techniques, new seeds and new investment and hence elevating the contribution of agri sector to our national GDP.
Mentioning amendments to the Essential Commodities Act, Javadekar announced that it will safeguard farmers from adverse market variations, limitations will be imposed only during extraordinary situations, thus enabling farmers to get better price for their produce.
The minister stated that there are many misconceptions about the agricultural reforms that are being disseminated, but they are far away from actuality. Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMC) and the system of Minimum Support Price (MSP) are there and will remain in future too.
The minister perceived that the biggest sorrow of our farmers is that the middlemen who don’t produce anything but receive more earnings than the farmer. New reforms are being protested since they are don’t comply with the interests of middlemen.
Apart from the agricultural reform laws, the government has also begun several startups for the welfare of the farmers. Neem Coating of Urea, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, Soil Health Card, to name a few. Rs 15 lakh crore worth agricultural loans are being offered at 4% interest; Rs 77,000 crore relief has been granted to farmers in last 5 years. Under the initiative of E-Mandi, 1,000 mandis have been linked to the internet and transactions worth Rs one lakh crore took place till now.
Over the years, the budget for agriculture sector has surged up from Rs 12,000 crore to Rs 1.34 lakh crore in duration one decade.