Observing the ongoing ruckus over the three farm bills mooted to usher in “revolutionary changes” in Indian agriculture namely the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Bill and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance & Farm Services Bill, it seems the government had little anticipation that they will become so contentious overnight. ‘Reactions’ are flowing in and it’s after a long time the opposition, which had remained rather low-spirited, has erupted opposing the bills, calling it “death knell” for farmers. It’s a solid hint that even if they emerge as laws, which is certain given the clear numerical majority of the ruling dispensation, differences will continue to grow as it’s going to make major structural changes in the ways the trading pattern of agricultural commodities has been practised for decades, affecting the farmers directly.

 

Dealing with the vital-most question- will the new laws be more beneficial for farmers than the existing system or the opposite, it must be admitted that at the moment there are no clear answers. While the champions of reforms reason that by creating an ecosystem where farmers will enjoy freedom of choice to sell directly to anyone and anywhere in the country beyond the APMCs which will ensure better price of their produce and simultaneously bring an end to ‘middleman raj’, the sceptics think otherwise. They perceive it as a beginning of gradual erosion of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system which has so long been the ‘last line of defence’ for farmers, both under normal circumstances as well as in climatic/pest induced exigencies. The interesting point is that the proposed legislation (Farmer’s Produce …Facilitation) Bill neither mandates discontinuation of the MSP mechanism nor shutting down of state-regulated AMPCs. But still, there is a growing fear among farmers that with entry of corporates having greater comparative professional efficiency, the mandis i.e. the APMCs will die a natural death, resulting in a monopolistic or oligopolistic era where their bargaining power in terms of price will exist only on paper. In terms of contract farming as proposed in Farmers…Price Assurance Bill, which opens one more door for corporate entry, there is also a threat perception that private players will have the last say in most of the agri matters.

 

It will be quite difficult at this stage to predict where the new laws will lead the Indian agriculture as both the pros and cons are too ‘convincing’ to ignore. It would have been better if a thorough national consensus was aimed beforehand. But, the issue is of huge importance and in coming days, debate over it will reach ‘uncomfortable heights’. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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