The Union Budget’s proposal for a common e-market platform for regulated wholesale markets in the country under the Unified Agriculture Marketing Scheme has triggered concerns among farmers in Maharashtra, few of whom have computer of Inernet access. Others say trading without geographical restrictions will help fetch better prices.
The scheme requires amendments to the Maharashtra Agriculture Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act to open up wholesale trading in regulated commodities.
“Under the Act, the operational area of a market is specified as a taluka, a district or any alternative location. Wholesale trade in regulated commodities has to be carried out in the market yard itself or at an already specified alternative location. Discussions have been on to remove this restriction, and will be a fundamental change if it comes about. Many are concerned that amending the Act will shut down APMCs, or farmers stand to lose,” an APMC official told The Hindu .
The government started e-auctions a year ago in four APMCs on a pilot basis: Hinganghat (Wardha), Rahta (Ahmednagar), Akot (Akola) and Khamgaon (Buldhana). The Centre plans to build an online network of agriculture markets.
Under the present e-auction process in Maharashtra, farmers first get their produce to the market yard. The total produce is declared in the morning, manually checked and graded on various parameters and the data is uploaded to an online portal. A time-controlled bidding process is carried and the highest bid is displayed on a board. Payments are made after bidding ends.
“It is important that APMCs are linked to purchasers from outside. The monopolies formed by local traders have to be broken for farmers to get good prices. Manual grading is a problem in online auctions as neither farmer nor purchaser is satisfied with the exercise. Scientific trading, is a must for the online process to be successful,” an APMC official said.
Farm activists aren't too upbeat. “E-market is a sham. Nearly 70 per cent of rural farmers are unaware of it. Does a farmer have a computer? A small section of big farmers may find good prices, but what about the large number of small farmers?” asked Kishan Gujjar of the Maharashtra Kisan Sabha.
