Agri reforms a remedy, not a malady: Survey

On a day when thousands of farmers once again started gathering on Delhi borders in protest against the three farm laws, the Centre, both through the Economic Survey and the Presidential address, came out strongly in support of the laws. It said these changes will herald a new era of market freedom which can go a long way in improving the lives of small and marginal farmers in India.

The Survey said the three farm laws are a "remedy not a malady", designed primarily for the benefit of small and marginal farmers, who are the biggest sufferers of the “regressive”

Apmc-regulated market regime.

On food management, the Survey advocated increasing the central issue price (CIP) of grains sold through the ration shops to tame burgeoning food subsidy burden.

CIP is the rate at which grains are sold through the ration shop to the poor and vulnerable. At present, the rate is fixed at ~3 per kg for rice, ~2 per kg for wheat and ~1 per kg for coarse cereals. The rate — that was finalised in 2013 — has not been revised since then, though the National Food Security Act (NFSA) — that governs distribution of cheap grains — has a provision for revising rates once in every three years.

“The food subsidy Bill is becoming unmanageably large. While it is difficult to reduce the economic cost of food management, there is a need to consider revision of CIP to reduce the bulging food subsidy bill,” the Survey said.

The survey strongly supported the newlycreated Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) as being a milestone in creation of robust farm gate infrastructure for farmers.

On the farm laws, the Survey said long queues of farmers waiting, most often in the hot sun, to sell their produce, is a characteristic feature of the APMC mandis.

The delays result in large post-harvest losses to the tune of 4-6 per cent in cereals and pulses, 7-12 per cent in vegetables and 6-18 per cent in fruits. Total post-harvest losses were estimated at ~44,000 crore at 2009 wholesale prices.