States get a year more to enact agri-mkting law

NEW DELHI: Keen to hasten the paradigm shift in agriculture sector from self sufficiency to market orientation, the Centre has given one year to all states to implement amended APMC Acts based on the model act on agricultural marketing.
The decision came at the meeting here of state agriculture ministers to discuss the new Act proposed by the Centre which incorporates, for the first time, contract farming, land lease and homestead-cum-garden concepts to revolutionise land policy as part of agri-marketing reform.
However, the road to boom time is clearly not going to be easy or quick since at least one key procurement state, Punjab, strongly protested, pointing to an estimated Rs 400 crore in revenue loss should state-run agri-market monopoly be diluted paving the way for big-time private markets entry. Other states expressed apprehensions in respect of private markets, suggesting that this could first be tried in respect of horticultural produce, agro-processing industries and for promotion of exports.
In respect of the far touchier land-lease concepts, for which minister Rajnath Singh has been pushing to gain legal status at the state level, several states insisted that the Centre go in for further and wide ranging consultations and discussions.
Attempting to allay the fears of states that any attempt to overhaul their respective APMC Act would affect their revenue receipts adversely, Mr Singh said that the proposed marketing reforms would plug misutilisation and increase the volume of transactions. States, the minister stressed, should now probe new and alternative resources to raise revenue. As for land leasing, farmers organisation would be consulted first to arrive at a consensus in reforms in the land policy sector.