-Newsclick.in In 2006, chief minister Nitish Kumar scrapped the APMC Act in Bihar and the destructive effects can be seen in the seething anger amongst farmers. What the Narendra Modi government recently did through passing laws to deregulate agricultural trade, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had accomplished 14 years ago, in 2006. Soon after becoming chief minister in alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he scrapped Bihar’s Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC)...

-The Telegraph The tearing hurry with which agriculture market reforms have been pushed through, without even consulting farmers, has resulted in huge farm protests in Punjab and Haryana At a time when I see euphoria among mainstream economists over the new set of agricultural reforms, media reports say that the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices has observed that only 12 per cent of India’s paddy cultivators were able to sell their...

-The Hindu The APMC Bypass Bill leaves too much to the benevolence of private players Three farm bills — the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill (commonly referred to as the APMC Bypass Bill), and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill — were cleared by Parliament amid protests from the Opposition. Sudha Narayanan (Associate Professor at the...

-Press release by Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements dated 23rd September, 2020 ICCFM is a non-partisan national alliance of farmers movements representing 12 farmers' organizations across India based in UP, MP, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, and Haryana. Bharatiya Kisan Union, Karnataka State Farmers Association, Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangham are among the major farmer movement. As with many other farmers organizations in this country, ICCFM is gravely worried about the anti-farmer bills...

-Financial Express Signs of a weakening of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) networks are now evident across major farm production centres in the country, heralding an era of unfettered market access and bolstered bargaining strength for farmers. On June 5, the Centre promulgated three Ordinances reforming the country’s agriculture marketing, and their impact on the trade has been rather sudden and material: During the June 6-August 31 period, mandi arrivals of...