-The Economic Times PUNE: The Maharashtra Cabinet has given in-principle approval to farmers to sell fruits and vegetables directly to wholesalers, bypassing the APMC mandis. However, it has held back the decision by a few days, handing it over to a cabinet sub-committee. "A cabinet sub-committee will take a decision on the matter in four days. We want to examine different angles such as the risk involved in farmers getting payment when...

-The Indian Express After Delhi, it is Maharashtra’s turn to attempt liberating fruits & vegetables from APMC shackles. Pune/ Vashi: Spread over 70 hectares land off the Old Mumbai-Pune highway, it’s a place where more than Rs 10,000 crore worth of fruits, vegetables and other farm produce gets traded annually. But right now, it’s also the scene of a prabodhan, a mass awakening campaign by traders and commission agents that could gather...

-The Hindu Business Line The recently launched e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) is targeted to be rolled out in 200 mandis across the nation on September 30, 2016. In recent years, the country has seen rising efforts by the government and private companies to unify agricultural markets. It is expected that participants across the nation will trade on the e-NAM platform and that the prices of agricultural produce will be determined based on...

-The Hindu Business Line A national platform for agri-produce can be a game-changer. But persuading States is key Most political regimes in India brand themselves as pro-farmer, and so it is ironic that the country’s market for agricultural produce is among its least liberalised. Given the perishable nature of agri-produce, the farmer is already up against structural constraints such as lack of scale economies and the rudimentary state of storage and logistics...

-The Indian Express Karnataka’s experience shows success depends on taking along all stakeholders. The government of India launched the National Agricultural Market Scheme in July 2015 in 585 markets and has, since April 14, started e-trading on the platform. This is in line with the Union Budget’s target to double farmers’ incomes in six years. To be sure, a doubling of incomes by 2022 would require them to grow at an annual...