-The Hindu Food security and farmer welfare are intertwined It is ironic that it took a devastating pandemic to force the government’s hand for long-overdue agrarian reforms. Amendments have been made to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The Finance Minister has urged States to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees. Several long-term changes have been made to the agricultural sector, such as fair pricing and e-trading, along with liquidity measures. The Centre...

-TheWire.in Even though India has had a few relatively successful models, contract farming has failed to take off in a meaningful manner. Of the three agriculture-related ordinances promulgated on June 5, 2020, the most predictable was ‘The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020’. Put simply, it provides a legal basis to the existing practice of contract farming in India’s agriculture and allied sectors. In 2018, the Union...

-Livemint.com The ongoing reforms won’t help if they remain deprived of market access and suffer low demand Earlier this week, as part of the package for Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the Cabinet approved the proposals for agricultural marketing reforms announced in May by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The government has approved the The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020, along with amendments to the Essential Commodities Act. It has also...

-The Hindu The reforms in agricultural marketing are no more than reiterations of earlier pronouncements The announcement of reforms in agricultural marketing by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in May, has been hailed by some as the “1991” moment for agriculture. While it does not mean much on the ground, it has successfully managed to deflect attention from the pittance offered by way of fiscal support to the agricultural sector, as a part...

-The Indian Express We must recognise and strengthen the diversity, dynamism, enterprise, and resilience of India’s agricultural markets. Last week, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman signalled the Union government’s intention to enact a new central law that would override existing state regulations that restrict the farmer from legally selling to anyone other than a buyer licensed by the local agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC). The decision to push for a central law comes...