The 3-Farm Bills. Will They Harm Farmers? (2Min Read)

" The Farmer is the only Man in our Economy who buys everything in retail, sell everything at wholesale, and pays freight both sides "

This is the famous quote by J.F.Kennedy, Former President, U.S.A, and this applies for every economy in the world especially a country like India.

Imagine when the Farmer is giving his Onion to the markets(APMCs) at ₹8-10/Kg and the same Onion is sold at ₹80-100/Kg to the consumers. Where does the difference price is going? The answers is the Middlemen. Any price actions in the market never benefited Farmers, the reason is same, the Middlemen.

Existing APMC System!

Every State has its APMC(Agricultural Produce Market Committee), where it is divided on the basis of Areas/Market-Yards/Mandis. If a trader wants to buy the crop in the specific Area he has to acquire the license to trade from specific APMC-mandi. Similarly the Farmer in that Area must sell his Produces in the specific Mandi where he belongs to, and this is mandatory. For e.g., "a Farmer residing in the village where the Mandi he belongs to is situated in the edge of the other side, even though the other APMC is situated nearer to him(but doesn't belongs to that mandi), he cannot sell his produces to that APMC-Mandi". 

What The New System Says?

The Three Farm Bills namely,

1. The Essential Commoditites (Amendment) Bill, 2020;
2. The Farmers'(Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020;
3. The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020.

The First Bill,

This is just an amendment to the existing Law, the new sub-section (1A) has been added to section-3, which says that the regulations which were imposed in sub-section (1) (i.e., regulating or prohibiting the production, supply and distribution of agricultural produces by government) of the same section will be applied only on emergency situations like famine, war or a sudden price rise.

Coming to the second bill, 

• It ensures the farmer to decide the price for his Crops.
• The farmer may also enter into a contract with any party he wishes. The minimum period of the contract is, one crop season and max up to 5-years.
• If the farming agreement has been made with the sponsor or buyer at the farm gate, the buyer should take the delivery of the crops within the prescribed period;
• Any disputes arising out of the agreement shall be referred to the conciliation board consisting of representatives of parties to the agreement for settlement.

The third bill,

• It gives an environment, where a farmer and trader enjoy freedom of choice to sell/buy the crops without any restrictions.
• it encourages barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trades, which was earlier restricted.
• any individual or organization can establish an electronic trading platform to facilitate farmers for intra-state and inter-state trades.
• no market fee, cess, or tax shall be levied on any farmers, traders or electronic trading platforms, this attracts more people to turn their heads towards agriculture and gives many employment opportunities.

Conclusion

    In our economy, agriculture contributes 17 percent to the total GDP and provides employment to over 60-percent of the population. The new system gives much relief to farmers and traders by cutting-down middlemen and APMC's domination over them.

Developing countries will get a boost to its economy if its agriculture sector is strong, agriculture provides food, income and employment opportunities. Some economists have called these reforms as 1991 moment for agriculture, some people are criticizing this as colonial reforms.

Every reform will be successful when its implementation is made properly. Let us wait and watch how these laws are going to change the status of our farmer and economy.