NABARD, AGRI MINISTRY’S DIFFERING VIEWS CLOG HAAT PLANS

Two government arms have simultaneously pitched proposals to the finance ministry to develop 22,000 agricultural markets — critical rural infrastructure aimed at raising farmers’ incomes. Now, the two can’t agree on how to get going.

These new markets, essentially village ‘haats’, are conceived as aggregation points for farmers with minimal rules. The aim is to provide an alternative to rigged farm-to-fork supply chains that drive down farmers’ profits.

The agriculture ministry and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), administered by the finance ministry, have both offered to set up these markets.

“But they aren’t exactly on the same page. In fact, the approaches are quite opposite and we need to determine a way out,” a government official said on condition of anonymity.

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, the Narendra Modi government is seeking to address widespread farm distress caused by drought-induced crop failures and a decline in agricultural commodity prices in recent years. The proposed new markets are a part of the effort for which the latest budget created a ₹2,000-crore agri-marketinfrastructurefund.

A part of the fund could also be used to modernise the existing wholesale market network, the agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) controlled by middlemen, a legacy of the so-called licence raj. The new markets are proposed to be kept outside the APMC system in a bid to liberalise farm trade.

The agriculture ministry has begun a national survey of these village markets strewn across states, which mostly operate on panchayat land.

NEWDELHI: THESE NEW MARKETS ARE CONCEIVED AS AGGREGATION POINTS FOR FARMERS WITH MINIMAL RULES