The Hindu Business Line : Free movement of agricultural products

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, with the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, at the Agriculture Summit in the Capital on Saturday. — Kamal Narang

New Delhi , April 9

THE Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, today said that as many as 16 States had agreed to amend the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act to facilitate free movement of agricultural products between States.

"The States have been advised to amend the APMC Act and as many as 16 states would amend this Act by April 2005," Mr Pawar said while speaking at the `Agriculture Summit 2005' organised here by the Ministry of Agriculture and FICCI.

Delivering the inaugural address at the conference, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said that time has come to have a common, single market for agricultural products in the country removing all the internal restrictions and barriers. "We should enable direct marketing between farmers, NGOs, cooperatives and private companies," he said.

The amended Act would also enable investments in market infrastructure and open up contract farming, he said, adding that both these areas would create avenues for private sector.

In order to facilitate price discovery, Mr Pawar said six States have committed to link all their mandis electronically by June this year. This would enable farmers to avail themselves of the latest price for their produce. He added that efforts were on to introduce the Integrated Food Law in the current session of Parliament.

Dr Singh raised concerns on the neglect of agriculture sector in the last decade. He said that during the last three years, India has not been able to ensure even 1.5 per cent rate of growth whereas it had targeted a 4 per cent growth.

In order to reverse the declining investment trend in agriculture, he called for "stepping up credit flow to farmers; increasing public investment in irrigation and wasteland development; increasing funds for agricultural research and extension; and creating a `single market' for agricultural produce".

Additionally, he said that there is a need to invest in rural healthcare and education; rural electrification; rural roads; set up commodities futures markets; and insure against risks which are inevitable in an increasingly commercialised agrarian economy.

Talking about the Government's efforts in agricultural diversification, the Prime Minister said that the Government is setting up a `National Horticulture Mission' which will ensure an end-to-end approach having backward and forward linkages covering research, production, post-harvest management processing and marketing, under one umbrella in an integrated manner.

Horticulture contributes nearly 28 per cent of the GDP in agriculture and 54 per cent of export share in agriculture from the cultivated area share of 8.5 per cent only. This means that there is tremendous scope for increasing production and exports in horticulture, he added.

Dr Singh also stressed the need for revamping a plan to increase agricultural credit and strengthen delivery systems. "Last year saw the credit going up from Rs 80,000 crore to Rs 1,05,000 crore," he said.

Pointing out that the institutional framework for providing long-term capital for investment in agriculture is weak, he asked the members in the conference to give their suggestions on how to create the required financial windows. He also said that a New Seeds Bill is under the consideration of Parliament.

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