NEW DELHI: On a day the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved raising the Minimum Support Price for kharif crops by at least 50%, Union minister for agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar on Monday said a new legislation will be introduced to give full freedom to farmers to sell their produce.
Expected to dismantle the existing Agriculture Produce Marketing Act Committee (APMC), the new law is intended to replicate e-NAM. Though agriculture is a state subject, buying and selling of agricultural produce is a matter of trade, so producers should have the freedom to sell to whoever offers maximum price, Tomar said. The NITI Aayog’s model APMC (Amend) Act in 2015 to states to reform mandi system had failed to make headway.With no clarity on Parliament session, the government could take the Ordinance route for the agri marketing reform.