Agri ministry sets up wing to push recent reforms

NEWDELHI: The agriculture ministry has created a cell to modernize farm logistics and supply value chains in line with the recent announcements of reforms in the sector by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This includes making amendments to the six-decade-old Essential Commodities Act and pushing two ordinances — freeing up farm trade from all restrictions and guaranteeing a legal framework for pre-agreed prices to farmers — an official said, requesting anonymity.

The reforms cell will help coordinate efforts to streamline supply and transportation of farm produce, and also aid projects to add value to primary farm goods for better prices to the farmers, the official said.

“Farmers have been unable to get better prices due to lack of investment in cold storage, processing and export as the entrepreneurial spirit gets dampened due to hanging sword of Essential Commodities Act,” a recent official statement had stated.

The government hopes that scaling back the ECA, 1955, will help drive up investment in cold storages and the food supply chain. Cold storages are refrigerated warehouses that can store perishables for up to six months. Refrigerated old stocks can cool food prices in times of scarcity.

The government last week promulgated ‘The Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020’. The ordinance effectively brings down the curtains on the decades-old agricultural produce market committees regulations system that regulates buying and selling of produce.