The agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) of Maharashtra will now have to shape up and start generating revenues instead of acting as mere cess-collecting bodies.
Maharashtra agriculture minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said he is in favour of granting autonomy to these committees warning that these bodies will either have to become self-functioning bodies failing which they should be prepared to wind up operations or merge with other financially stronger APMCs in the state.
For the first time in the history of Maharashtra, all the 305 APMCs in the state have been directed by the state government to come up with a 5-year business development plan (BDP) that includes backward and forward linkages for farmers.
Over the next five years, around Rs 5,000 crore in expected to be pumped into these bodies to improve their functioning. These funds will either have to be generated by the bodies on their own or they will be assisted to opt for loans from various agencies, senior officials of the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board ( MSAMB) said.
?Initially APMCs were established with the farmer in mind to provide direct market access for them. However, over the years the farmers are longer relevant and traders and commission agents now run these bodies. While traders are also important, APMCs cannot remain political bodies and have to come forward to develop infrastructure including cold storage facilities for farmers,? Patil told FE. Farmers should become relevant to these bodies once again, he maintained.
?It has taken me two and half years to inculcate this thought process among the committees. The objective is to strengthen and improve finances of APMCs. The business development plan should reflect the financial position of these bodies,? the minister said.
? The need for direct market intervention is all the more important now. Investment in agriculture is going up. Private bodies are also getting increasingly involved in agriculture and farmer producer companies are also emerging as important elements in the supply chain. At this juncture, if the APMCs do not change or keep up with the times, they will cease to remain relevant,?he said.
?Maharashtra is sadly lacking behind other states in terms of storage space, something that APMCs should have come forward on their own to develop. This would have also stopped distress sales among farmers instead of being exploited by traders. The BDP is a move in this direction,? Patil said.
According to Milind Akare, MD, MSAMB, around 40% of the agricultural produce in the state is marketed through APMCs.
?The objective is to increase this quantum to around 70% and reduce losses. Over 30% of the perishables, 20% cereals and 15% non-perishable items are wasted for the lack of storage facilities. The BDP will help these bodies access funds for improvement of infrastructure through various state and central schemes such as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and schemes from the World Bank and NABARD, he said.
MSAMB has begun hand holding exercises and workshops with several MSAMBs in the state and the implementation of the BDP has begun in full swing, he said. Some 22-25 APMCs have come up with business development plans. Amravati APMC already come up with a plan to establish infrastructure worth Rs 25 crore and the project is in the tender stage, senior officials said. Meetings are also underway with several banks to enable loans for projects.