The Kerala government has put in place a mechanism to study how free trade agreements (FTA) entered into by India impact the farm sector in the State, so that it can convey its concerns and demands promptly to the Centre.
The government has constituted a six-member high-level committee under the Agriculture department, which will examine the impacts of the FTAs and file reports every four months.
Kerala has for long expressed concern over the impacts of the FTAs on its agriculture and plantation sectors, especially respect to crops such as pepper, rubber, coffee, spices and tea.
The panel has as its convener the Special Officer, Agriculture (WTO Cell) Department, the Agriculture Director, the Director of the Soil Survey and Soil Conservation Department, chief (Agriculture) of the State Planning Board, director research, Kerala Agricultural University, and the chairman, State Agricultural Prices Board.
The panel will periodically examine how FTAs and other agreements inked by the Indian government with other countries/country blocs and file reports once every four months.
The decision to form the committee was taken at a meeting convened by Agriculture Minister P. Prasad in May this year, and a subsequent recommendation made by the Agriculture Director. Kerala has repeatedly expressed the concern that the FTAs being signed by the Centre without consultations with the State pose a grave threat to the farming community.
In a bid to promote value addition in agriculture and improve farmer incomes, the Agriculture department had launched the ‘Keralagro’ brand and constituted the Value-added Agriculture Mission (VAAM) and the Kerala Agrobusiness Company (KABCO).
