Finally Announced : Agri Infra Fund to APMC
Context :
Govt extends scope of Agri Infra Fund to APMCs, others / Business Line / 9 July 2021
Extract :
Ø The Union Cabinet on Thursday modified the provisions of the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund in such a way that the Rs 1 lakh*crore fund is NOW OPEN to many more stakeholders in agriculture, including Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees ( APMCs )
Ø With the changes, federations of Farmers Producers Organizations ( FPOs ), and Federations of Self Help Groups ( SHGs ) would ALSO be eligible for this credit
Ø For APMCs, interest subvention for similar loans will be provided for each project of different infrastructure types such as,
# COLD STORAGE
# Sorting, Grading and Assaying Units
# SILOS,
Within the same market yard
Dear Shri Tomarji,
Many thanks for accepting suggestion(though with some modifications), which I made in my following e-mail :
Ø Selling Farm Laws before selling Farm Crops …………………………[ 24 Sept 2020 ]
Where I suggested that the Govt tell the Farmer Leaders :
“ We will urge companies entering into CONTRACT FARMING agreements with a farmer, to construct on
the farm premises of that farmer, GRAIN STORAGE SILOS / COLD STORAGE ROOMS , to enable a
farmer to store his produce for a longer period, without perishing under our harsh climate
We will allow the concerned Companies to set off expenses incurred in constructing these facilities
towards their CSR obligations
ALTERNATIVELY, WE WILL CONSIDER USE OF ALREADY ANNOUNCED AGRI FUND OF RS 1 LAKHXCRORE, FOR THIS PURPOSE
WE HAVE ALSO PROVIDED RS 700 CRORE FOR SETTING UP COLD CHAIN ACROSS THE COUNTRY
==============================
Context :
Govt tables amendments to Centre’s farm laws / TOI / 07 July 2021
Extract :
Ø The Central laws had been criticized for making no provision to uphold the MSP.
Ø The ( Maharashtra ) State’s amendment on the law governing FARMING CONTRACTS says :
“ Agreements will not be valid unless the price paid is EQUAL TO or HIGHER than MSP “
However it says :
“ Agreements below MSP can be made for two years with the mutual consent of farmers and sponsor, and that for crops without an MSP , agreements will be decided by mutual consent “
Ø On the law governing trade in markets outside APMC, the Central Law only requires traders to have a PAN card to begin conducting business. The amendment requires traders to be licensed by a competent authority to protect farmers from being cheated. However traders dealing in fruits, vegetables, spices and condiments are excluded from requiring the licenses since these goods have been removed from the APMC act in Maharashtra
Dear Shri Tomarji,
These amendments are a good compromise and hold potential to reach a definitive agreement with the agitating farmer unions
In this context, I wish to draw your attention to my following earlier e-mail :
Ø Selling Farm Laws before selling Farm Crops …………………[ 24 Sept 2020 ]
Where I had suggested as follows :
Ø On the existing Govt portal ( e-NAM ), we will introduce a section called CONTRACT FARMING ,
where the farmers desirous of entering into contract farming agreements, will submit their full
details :
Name / Farm Size / Location of farm / main crops / past yields per acre / no of workers / family
members engaged / existing loan liabilities / water availability etc ) crops / past yields per acre
/ family members engaged
Ø Companies on look out for CONTRACT FARMING can search this database ( of course , after due registration with full details of the Company ) and shortlist / select potential farmers and send them their “ Purchase Proposal “ ( by filling in an Online Standard Form ).
Ø
Ø Central Government would have full access to these contracts entered Online between the parties and ENSURE THAT NO CONTRACT IS ENTERED INTO BELOW THE MSP FOR THE CONCERNED CROP
No one else can see these contracts but the parties concerned would have a provision to EDIT these
With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 09 July 2021
RELATED READINGS :
Ø Thank You, Shri Tomarji ……………………………………..[ 28 Sept 2020 ]
Extract :
Dear Shri Tomarji,
Various Farmers Unions have expressed following fears in respect of the FARM LAWS just passed :
Ø The Contract Farming law will make them vulnerable to exploitation by Corporations
Ø If Contract Farming picks up in a BIG WAY, Govt may stop buying at MSP – might even scrap MSP
Now, if the CONTRACT FARMING Act carries a clause that no contract can be valid / legal ( not even allowed to be registered on e-NAM portal ) if it is below the MSP ( relevant to the contracted crop ), then the farmers fears will get satisfactorily addressed
On top of this, you may want to give assurance following assurance to the farmers :
Ø For the crops which are currently not covered by MSP, we will, in consultation with the Farmers’ Unions
, come up with MSPs in each case ( for CONTRACT FARMING only ) , over the next 5 years. Such MSPs
will be 100 % above the COST of PRODUCTION
Ø The INPUT COSTS ( for each such crop ) will get determined by AI technology as described at :
Influence farmers and win Votes ? ……………………………..[ 04 Feb 2019 ]
Ø How about introducing a PLI for agricultural produce ?.............................
Extract :
Can we come up with a FORMULA ( obviously, to be devised by Farm Experts ) whereby , a farmer gets a certain ( graded ) INCENTIVE for each SLAB of “ Increased output “ , over the BASE OUTPUT for the BASE YEAR ?
We already know :
Ø Each farmer ( by Aadhar / Jan Dhan a/c / Mobile etc )
Ø Farm holding ( hectares ) of each farm
Ø Each farmer’s output ( ave of past 3 years )
We can take help of NaVIC satellite based technology to automatically compute the yield of each and every farm , compute the INCENTIVE AMOUNT and automatically transfer ( DBT ) into each farmer’s bank account . Absolutely NO human intervention / no middlemen ( adatiyas ) !
By no means, I am suggesting that this mechanism ( to incentivize the farmers to raise the productivity and catch-up with the World ), is meant to replace MSP , which should continue as before
Nor would this PLI scheme bind the farmers to sell their produce within and outside of APMC mandis or prevent the Govt to buy it at MSP
==============================
Ø e-NAM ; reimagined to resolve farmer agitation………………………….[ 10 Dec 2020 ]
Extract :
This kind of “ SEARCH – DISCOVER – MATCH – ALERT - AGREE “ type of algorithms are to be found on all types of e-commerce portals ( jobs – houses – travel – domestic goods – insurance etc )
If millions of farmers get into such a “ Futures Trading “ type of process then employing AI ( Artificial Intelligence ) will help them get BEST PRICES for their FUTURE / PLANNED crops
In fact , using some SEARCH feature on e-NAM portal, farmers can even find out which crops are commanding what ( higher ) prices , and WHEN , and then accordingly carry out their CROP ROTATION / future planting
Full “HISTORY of TRANSACTIONS “ will be stored and made available to the concerned parties
Ø Digital Farming ? …………………………………………………………………………….
Dear Readers :
On this matter ( reaching a compromise solution with Farmer Unions ), if you have a suggestion to make to our Policy Makers, you can send your e-mail from :
