(Eds: Adding info in para 3)New Delhi, Oct 13 (PTI) Aiming to double farmers' incomeby 2022, the federal think-tank Niti Aayog today said it isworking with states to adopt first set of agri market reforms,including contract farming, online spot and futures tradingbesides encouraging private investment.
Following a direction from Prime Minister Narendra Modi,a comprehensive agenda has been prepared to bringtransformation in agriculture, which has not been liberalisedlike other sectors since 1991, it said.
Speaking at a Nasscom-Yes Bank event on role of digitaltechnologies in driving agri business growth, Niti AayogMember Ramesh Chand said the regulatory reforms have been"slow, patchy and absolute" in the agriculture sector.
Main emphasis is being given on bringing marketingreforms to facilitate and incentivise the private sector toinvest in agri logistics and cold chains, among others, headded.
Among the first set of reforms, Chand said contractfarming has to be promoted and for which a model law has beenframed both by the think-tank and the agriculture ministry.
"Hopefully, we will combine the both and come out with afinal version of model contract farming, which will be sharedwith states for adoption," he said.
To promote derivative trading in farm commodities, Chandsaid the finance ministry has set up a panel.
He also expressed happiness that farmers in the North-East and Madhya Pradesh are using the futures trading platformfor selling their produce. Even integration of mandis with theelectronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) is picking up.
The Niti Aayog has also proposed scrapping of theEssential Commodities Act that is destabilising prices ratherthan keeping them stable, he added.
"These are the first set of reforms which we are workingwith states to adopt as the world is moving ahead fast. We arewitnessing a lot of digitisation. It is not waiting forIndia's elementary level of reforms in the agri sector,"Chand observed.
A lot need to be done to take technologies to the fieldlevel, he noted and called for adopting science-basedagriculture. PTI LUX ARDABM.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.