Paving the way for direct marketing of agricultural products by farmers, the Tamil Nadu government has promulgated an ordinance to allow establishment of private market yards, collection and aggregation centres.

The ordinance which seeks to amend the Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1987, will enable the farmers to sell their produce freely and realise the best available price.

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act, 1987, was enacted to make better provisions for regulation of buying and selling of agricultural produce and the establishment and proper administration of markets for agricultural produce in the state.

A gazette notification by the state government said that it was now necessary to provide for geographically restriction-free trade or transaction of agricultural produce across the state to give freedom to the agriculturists to sell their produce across time and space.

Other objectives of the amendments were to enhance transparency in trade operations, promote emergence of multiple channels for competitive marketing and encourage investments in development of markets and marketing infrastructure in the state.

Provision for establishment of private market yards, sub-yards, collection and aggregation centres are the main objectives envisaged through the amendments, it said. Since the state assembly was not in session, the government took to the ordinance route.

According to the amendment, any person will be eligible to get a licence to set up a private market yard anywhere in the unified market area (the whole of Tamil Nadu) for trading in agricultural produce, for a period of three years. The private market yard licencee or its management committee may register market functionaries including traders with such fee as may be prescribed to operate in the yard.

Additionally, the government is also looking at allowing sub-yards in the form of warehouses and cold storage facilities. For the purpose of direct marketing, the government will allow persons to set up collection or aggregation centres with ample infrastructure in the proximity of a production area or within a designated food park with linkages to retail chain or processing/ export unit/premises for the marketing of agricultural produce.