Page 24 - NIS English October 1-15

Cover Story
Agriculture Reforms

'MSP IS HERE TO STAY; SELL YOUR PRODUCE

Rest assured, the MSP will continue:
According to the Union Agriculture
Minister Narendra Singh Tomar,
procurement of food grains at the
Minimum Support Price will continue. He
said that he had the assurance of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi on this. The
MSP rates have been hiked significantly
between 2014 and 2020. The revised MSPs
for the upcoming Rabi season have been
announced. The Union Agriculture Minister
said that complete protection of farmers
has been ensured in these Bills

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020

Main Provisions The doubts

It will create an ecosystem where farmers n Procurement at Minimum Support Price will stop
n
and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of n If farm produce is sold outside Mandis, these will
sale and purchase of produce stop functioning
It will promote barrier-free, inter-state and n What will be the future of the Government's
n
intra-state trade and commerce outside electronic trading portal like eNAM ?
the physical premises of state notified
markets Clarifications
Farmers will not be charged any cess or
n
levy for sale of their produce and will not n Procurement at the Minimum Support Price will
have to bear transport costs continue; farmers can sell their produce at MSP
It also proposes electronic trading in rates; the MSPs for Rabi season have already
n been announced
transaction platform for ensuring trade
electronically n Mandis will not stop functioning, trading will
continue as before. Under the new system,
In addition to Mandis, farmers will be free
n farmers will have the option to sell their produce
to trade at their farms, cold storages, at other places in addition to the Mandis
warehouses, processing units etc
n The eNAM trading system will also continue in
Farmers will be able to engage in
n the Mandis
direct marketing thereby eliminating Trading in the farm produce will increase on
intermediaries resulting in full realization n electronic platforms. It will result in greater
of price transparency and save time

22 New India Samachar