-The Hindu True agricultural reform rests with local governments, and States need to go back to the basics and expert suggestions The recent announcement by the Prime Minister that the Union Government would seek to repeal the three Farm Laws in the winter session of Parliament has prompted diverse reactions. On November 29, the first day in Parliament, the Farm Laws Repeal Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha without discussion. These...

-The Tribune A major hurdle to increasing exports is the decades-long neglect of export market infrastructure, which doesn’t meet the importing countries’ standards in terms of quality, quantity and other attributes such as food safety norms. India lacks an export-oriented strategy for agricultural commodities to establish itself as a regular supplier to international markets due to ad hoc measures such as a ban on exports or increase in tariffs off and...

When one of the three farm laws i.e., The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 was enacted last year, it was argued by its proponents that the legislation would allow the farmers to sell their produce (and the traders to purchase that produce) outside the Agricultural Produce Market Committee-APMC mandis after crop harvesting. In a way, that particular piece of legislation was enacted to end the...

-Hindustan Times Supporters of the three farm laws have been arguing that the new regime will help farmers receive better prices by selling products in the open market rather than the APMCs. SAS data does not support such a claim That Indian agriculture has been distress-ridden is an accepted fact in post-reform India. However, this is often discussed more in terms of farmers’ suicides, especially during the last decade, or abysmally low...

-Down to Earth Farmers in general satisfied with return from local sale, but a significant percentage of them get lower than market price The majority of Indian farmers sell their produce in local markets, the 77th round of the National Sample Survey by the National Statistical Office titled Land and livestock holdings of households and situation assessment of agricultural households has found. Government agencies and Agricultural Produce Market Committees account for an...