Improve farmer-market connect

Vijay C Roy
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, June 24

With less than two weeks to go before the Union Budget is announced, there is speculation that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would focus on the agriculture sector following the lines of Interim Budget. The farming community, which is facing challenges such as vagaries of weather, post-harvest losses and lack of market linkages, demands adequate attention. The Tribune reached out to some farmers, experts and policymakers to know what they expect from the Budget 2019.

Extend MSP to all crops 

Unlike the present structure, where only a few commodities get the government-fixed Minimum Support Price (MSP) and the robust procurement systems are limited to few states, the government should focus on bringing all crops under the MSP ambit. “Increasing MSP is not adequate. It is not always resulted into a hike in farmer incomes as procurement is mainly restricted to crops such as wheat, paddy and cotton and that too only in a few states. So, the government should ensure stricter implementation of MSP in all states, covering all commodities,” said Datshan Pal, State Coordinator, Krantikari Kisan Union (KKU).

Loan waivers 

The government should consider a farm loan waiver at the national level as a one-time solution to help the distressed farmers. A one-time debt waiver for small and marginal farmers and landless labourers is essential to make them debt-free, said Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan, General Secretery, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan).

Focus on infra

On account of poor storage and transportation facilities, every year farmers loses crores of rupees. Experts say there is lack of supporting infrastructure across the value chain such as cold chain facilities, refrigerated vans, primary processing centres and transportation facilities which is root cause of post-harvest losses. 

Develop e-NAM

The e-National Agriculture Market is yet to operate at its full potential. The government should introduce assaying, grading and sorting machines and transportation facilities for the delivery of the produce at the mandis under e-Nam.  This will boost the retailers’ confidence. At present, they are reluctant to participate at the electronic platform due to lack of these facilities.

Invest in research 

“There are over 50 per cent vacancies in agriculture research institutions. Similarly, it is in the state agriculture extension system. Extension for animal husbandry is missing. The Centre must fill these vacancies and double funding for agricultural research. Besides, the Centre should change the funding ratio its schemes to a 90:10 ratio where the Central government bears 90 per cent cost. Further, reduce GST on processed foods and milk products to 5 per cent.” Ajay Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Bharat Krishak Samaj.

Promote agri-startups

There is a need to promote agri-startups as it will not only boost the farm sector but create job opportunities for the rural youth. So, there should be a policy to boost such ventures. Besides, the government should focus on value addition and initiating steps to boost agriculture exports, as it will not only boost productivity but also farmers’ income.