Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
Deregulation of produce market from APMC is bound to fail, thanks to haphazard arrangements
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • India
  • Deregulation of produce market from APMC is bound to fail, thanks to haphazard arrangements

Deregulation of produce market from APMC is bound to fail, thanks to haphazard arrangements

Mahesh Vijapurkar • August 9, 2016, 18:32:40 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Farmers who have been working with the APMC were unprepared to find reliable platforms to sell without the committee’s help.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Deregulation of produce market from APMC is bound to fail, thanks to haphazard arrangements

When a cart is put ahead of the horse, neither manages much progress. That’s the best that can be said about the Maharashtra government’s decision to deregulate the vegetables and fruits market, freeing the farmers from the clutches of the agricultural produce market committees (APMCs). Farmers have been told that they no longer have to be at the mercy of the commission agents who manipulate prices and instead, they can sell directly to the consumer. After a strike by APMCs, it was agreed that buyers and not farmers should pay agents their commission. And yet, Maharashtra Times reported on Tuesday that at the APMC in Vashi, which is the biggest APMC in Maharashtra, the consumers’ demand is so high that around 60 percent of the farmers’ produce continues to be sold there. The report said that auctions are being held “in stealth”. The only reason for this is the fact that the government had not made adequate preparations of alternate ways through which farmers can bypass the APMCs. [caption id=“attachment_2945252” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] ![Representational image. Reuters](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/vegetables-farm-Reuters-380.jpg) Representational image. Reuters[/caption] When the announcement of the change was made a month ago, Firstpost had asked: “How would the farmers move their produce and where would they sell them in a city that is so short of space?” Sidewalks are already overcrowded. Thane and Mumbai civic bodies identified some spots but it took time to clear them and this time lapse worried the farmers. The well-meant ‘free-the-farmer’ project seems to have stumbled soon after the photo-op events. Remember the photos of Agriculture Minister Sadabhau Khot, and another of a Shetkari Sanghatana leader helping farmers sell their produce? So the ‘launch’ was successful but not surprisingly, the horse later stumbled. It is mindboggling that 60 percent of the farmers continue to deal via the APMC. It is known that the farmers gain nothing even though consumers end up paying more. Given that farmers are in debt because they don’t get proper price for their product – and who else but the commission agents and wholesalers could be the natural suspects — is it possible that they are in the thrall of moneylenders who extend loans to them? The government should look into this as it has a policy of licensing moneylenders and just about anybody cannot extend a loan. Neither did the government nor its agencies familiarise the farmers with life in the cities. In a city where retailers abound and hawkers appropriate spaces just about anywhere, how are farmers supposed to pick a spot to set up their stalls? How will they deal with the conflict with existing retail hawkers? A consumer may crave lower prices, but he or she will find it tough to go to a market eight kilometres away because of the exigencies of urban life. The state government didn’t inform towns and cities in time to ready locations for farmers’ markets because of which these urban areas had to act quickly. In Thane, for instance, places were identified for daily sales of fruits and vegetable. But farmers who have been working with the APMC were unprepared to find reliable platforms to sell without the committee’s help. The response was so poor in Thane that the spots were turned into a weekly market. It’s not the fault of the growers that the free-the-farmer project is on the road to failure; the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of policy makers.

Tags
CriticalPoint farmers APMC Shetkari Sanghatana Vashi Sadabhau Khot
End of Article
Written by Mahesh Vijapurkar
Email

Mahesh Vijapurkar likes to take a worm’s eye-view of issues – that is, from the common man’s perspective. He was a journalist with The Indian Express and then The Hindu and now potters around with human development and urban issues. see more

Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Impact Shorts

News18 SheShakti 2025: Voices of cinema, sport and music redefine nation-building

News18 SheShakti 2025: Voices of cinema, sport and music redefine nation-building

At News18 SheShakti 2025 Delhi, women from sports, cinema, and music discussed breaking barriers. Kriti Sanon and Sanya Malhotra focused on equity in cinema, Mira Erda and Ashalata Devi on sports challenges, and Kavita Krishnamurti stressed humility and perseverance for lasting success.

More Impact Shorts

Top Stories

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

Charlie Kirk, shot dead in Utah, once said gun deaths are 'worth it' to save Second Amendment

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

From governance to tourism, how Gen-Z protests have damaged Nepal

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Did Russia deliberately send drones into Poland’s airspace?

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages: Qatar PM after Doha strike

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports

QUICK LINKS

  • Mumbai Rains
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV