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

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 was introduced by the Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Lok Sabha on September 14, 2020. The bill is aimed at transforming the agriculture in the country and raising farmers’ income.

Key Features of the Bill

• The bill if passed will enable barrier-free trade in agricultural produce.
• It will also empower farmers to engage with investors of their choice.
• The bill seeks to create an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers’ produce,
• The bill will facilitate remunerative prices by providing a competitive a trading channels to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade.
• The bill also enables the commerce of farmers’ produce outside physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under State agricultural produce market legislations.
• The bill also provides a facilitation framework for electronic trading.

Why this bill has been introduced?

Earlier, the farmers in India suffered from various restrictions while marketing their produce. Selling the agri-produce outside the notified APMC market yards were also restricted. They could sell the produce only to registered licensees of the State Governments. Further, flow of agriculture produces between various States under the APMC legislations was not barrier free.

Thus, this bill is a historic-step to unlock the highly regulated agriculture markets in the country. Farmers will be open up to more choices.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2020