Today, a meeting of the Expert Committee on the National Policy for Agricultural Marketing was held at the India International Center, Lodhi Road, Delhi, under the leadership of S. Harchand Singh Barsat, Chairman of Punjab Mandi Board and Chairman of COSAMB.
The meeting was attended by the Expert Committee Chairman, Shri Aditya Devi Lal Chautala, MLA Dabwali, Haryana, Shri Ashok Dalwai, IAS, former Chairman of Doubling Farmers’ Income, Shri Gokul Patnaik, IAS, former Chairman of APEDA, Shri Parvesh Sharma, IAS, former MD of SFAC, Dr. Hema Yadav, Director of Vamnicom, and Dr. J.S. Yadav, MD of COSAMB.
All the members shared their views and appreciated the steps being taken by COSAMB. Gokul Patnaik suggested that data should be prepared for the supply chain of 10-12 essential commodities of India.
He mentioned that the MS Swaminathan Report also recommends health index ratios and suggestions for promoting interstate trade. He emphasized strengthening the mandi system rather than eliminating it and suggested placing checks on the monopoly of traders who exploit farmers.
Similarly, Parvesh Sharma proposed that the responsibility for operating e-NAM in India should be handed over to state governments and that any present technology upgrades for the mandi system should be implemented.
Dr. Hema Yadav recommended setting up cooperative institutions to guide and assist farmers in preventing their exploitation. Ashok Dalwai acknowledged the commendable step of setting up the Expert Committee on Agricultural Marketing by COSAMB and suggested including the Principal Secretaries of all Indian states in the implementation of the recommendations of the expert committee.
He also mentioned that horticulture, food grains, fish farming, and other agriculture-related occupations should be included in this policy. He further suggested developing 10,000 large mandis in India and dividing at least 20 important commodities by zone wise across 15 states, providing price and buying-selling information through e-NAM.
Aditya Devi Lal Chautala advocated for facilitating farmers through marketing boards for interstate markets, helping them sell their crops and providing transport facilities. S. Harchand Singh Barsat, Chairman of COSAMB, suggested preparing data on the type of soil, environment, and major crops produced in different states of India, and determining the demand for goods in various regions based on the total population.
He emphasized expanding the mandi system based on production and demand. He also recommended providing legal guarantee of minimum support price for the purchase of farmers’ crops to benefit farmers, workers, and consumers can also get food products on time.
Moreover, S. Barsat proposed organizing a joint meeting with farmers' unions, workers' unions, traders, and experts involved in this field while formulating national-level policies to ensure mutual benefits for farmers, traders, and consumers in the future.
For this purpose, a national level session of at least 3 to 4 days will be convened and the policy will be formulated after open discussion.