BHUBANESWAR: The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has recommended the State Government to fully computerise the procurement process and maintain an exhaustive database for analysing the inclusiveness of the procedure for small and marginal farmers.CACP is an experts’ body which recommends Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) to the Centre by taking into account cost of production, trends in domestic and international prices.
The recommendations were made following complaints that benefits of MSP are not reaching small and marginal farmers. The apex panel has recommended to undertake an in-depth study of geographical distribution of farmers and surplus food grain available for procurement besides the geographies which could have been an disadvantage and its reasons.
Odisha is among the 22 States which faced the Commission’s admonishment. Other States are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.
The Commission has also recommended for wide publicity about MSP and Fair Average Quality (FAQ) norms and to open procurement centres in remote areas at gram panchayat level. Training to farmers on FAQ norms and post-harvest handling of commodities to minimise losses have also been suggested.
The States, which have already put in place online procurement system, have been asked to obtain an analytical report on small and marginal farmers having benefited from the exercise during kharif marketing seasons in 2017 and 2018 with a view to identify the challenges involved in making the process more inclusive.
Stating that a major push is required to build local storage system at gram panchayat level on cost sharing basis between farmers and State Government, the CACP observed that it will enable farmers to deposit their produce in local godowns. They can obtain a receipt and avail loan to an extent of 75 per cent of the value of the crop deposited in the godown against the receipt.
An official said the step, besides helping farmers to take care of their immediate need of fund, will also allow to sell their produce at a later date when the market recovers. “The system will help empower farmers with the support of rural and cooperative banks and primary agricultural cooperative societies,” he added.