The Farmers Bill, 2020
All 3 farm bills got replead after one year of protest by thousands of farmers mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh.
INTRODUCED BY
Introduced by
Narendra Singh Tomar
Union Agriculture Minister
SYNOPSIS
3 inter-connected bills aiming to bring reforms in agricultural sectors have been introduced in the parliament.
- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020,
- Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill
The first two gives the opportunity for farmers to directly connect with corporates to sell their commodity without any government intervention.
The third allows the government to regulate the supply of certain food items only under extraordinary circumstances
HIGHLIGHTS
- The parliament has passed 3 inter-linked farmers bills to empower the farmer
-
The bill proposes a market where farmers can sell their produce anywhere they wish.
- The Bill formulates a framework that enables farmers to engage with agri-business companies, retailers, exporters for service and sale of produce while giving the farmer access to modern technology.
Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020
Salient Points ()
It allows the farmers to sell anywhere within the country under the ‘One Nation- One Market’ concept
The farmers can still go with existing system to sell his produce at APMC under MSP support.
It removes barriers to inter-State trade and provides a framework for electronic trading of agricultural produce.
The bill prohibits state governments from collecting market fee, cess or levy for trade outside the APMC markets.
Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020
Salient Points ()
This Bill relates to contract farming, providing a framework on trade agreements for the sale and purchase of farm produce.
This bill do not provide any robust mechanism for price fixation, though it offers protection to farmers against price exploitation.
The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill
Salient Points ()
This bill came into light because of emergency and extraordinary situations like covid-19.
It removes commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities.
This will deregulate the production, storage, movement and distribution of these food commodities. And it will end the imposition of stock-holding limits except under extraordinary circumstances like war etc.
There is no stock limits except:
If retail prices goes up 50% than the average price in the case of non-perishables
100% in the case of perishables items.
BACKGROUND
There are several problems faced by farmers with current APMC system
- Overproduction
- Low-crop price
- High transportation cost
- High-interest rate
- High debts
The current procurement system is based on middlemen, commission agents, and red-tapism of APMC officers.
An average farmer was finding it difficult to get access to these mandis and was dependent on the market to sell farm produce.
Because of this system, the farmers were getting not higher prices for their produce, which had also resulted in high debts and suicides.
KEY STATS
Key Stats ()
Total economic output from agriculture sector
Country's GDP from agricultural sector
Suicides committed by farmers in last 2 years (NCRB)
Farmers could take benefit of the schemes under MSP system
Countries population livelihood is from agriculture industry.
Countries population livelihood depends upon agriculture sector
TIMELINES
The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha
The bill passed in Lok Sabha
The bill passed in Rajya Sabha
Protests and Rally by Farmers especially from Punjab and Haryana (9 Aug - till date)
Government proposes to temporary suspend the bill for 18 months to the farmers.
All 3 farm bills got repealed.
All the 3 Bills got temporary suspended for 1.5 years and referred to committee to discuss further.
WHY (as per the govt)
Salient Points ()
Empower farmers to turn into traders of their own produce and be in control of the process.
This would transform the agriculture sector and help farmers to earn higher income.
This makes the farmer independent of government controlled markets and fetch them a better price for their produce.
It will encourage intra-state trade and thus will help to reduce the cost of transportation.
This will accelerate growth in the sector through private sector investment in building infrastructure and supply chains for farm produce in national and global markets
WHY NOT
as per opposition
Salient Points ()
This will facilitate looting of farmers and consumers.
The big retailers and agri-business companies will have upper hand in negotiations.
The big giants and corporate companies will dictate the prices. And the benefits of small farmers may reduce.
This will encourage hoarding by companies. they will procure and stock the commodities and will create artificial shortages and them will sell at exorbitant prices.
as per farmer union
Salient Points ()
New laws on agri-business will enable big companies:
- To control crop purchasing and dictate prices
- Control supply and prices of inputs for agriculture
- Monopolize food processing
- Kill 'regulated' mandi system.
Essential commodity act will allow hoarding and black marketing by exposing rural and urban poor to agri giants and private food cooporations.
Market situations will be manipulated by agri business firms, wholesalers, exporters, large retailers etc.
Farmers will not be able to protect their interest while exposed to giant traders.
SDM courts will become final authority for dispute resolution. Farmers will not be able to approach higher courts.
Land ownership of farmers will be on risk due to contract farming and debt instrument, as big companies will have their own recovery mechanism.
MEDIA SAYING
Media Saying ()
NDTV.com 
www.timesnownews.com SOCIAL MEDIA SAYING
Farmers Bill Protests Video
VIDEOS
Videos ()
WHY ARE FARMERS UPSET?
Salient Points ()
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana are afraid that through these bills government is trying to scrap the old support system for purchase of their crops.
89% - Rice produced by farmers in Punjab is procured by government.
85% - Rice produced by farmers in Haryana is procured by government.
The purchase of crops by Food Corporation of India at certain price encourages the farmers to produce more yield.
And the recent bills will kill the government procured system.
The farmers in these state face no price risk.
Government also incentivized to grow paddy and wheat.
www.telegraphindia.com FAQs
MSP means Minimum Support Price. It is the minimum price guaranteed by the government to farmers in APMCs.
The APMC act is a safety net for farmers. It ensures that the selling price do not go too low for farmers.
APMC stands for Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee.
It was compulsory for farmers to take their products to regulated wholesale markets or mandi, where commission based agents helped farmers to sell their produce to either government/state run food procurement agency or private traders.
Though the aim of this independent APMC body was to protect farmers from exploitations but over the years it become powerful tool for political parties.
There are 23 commodities whose minimum selling prices are currently fixed by center.
- Seven oilseeds (Groundnut, Soybean, Sesamum, Safflower, Nigerseed, Rapseed-mustard, sunflower)
- Seven cereals (Wheat, padyy, Bajra, Jowar, Barley, Ragi, Maize)
- Five pulses ( Arhar/Tur, Chana, Moong, Urad, Masur)
- Four commercial crops (Cotton, Sugarcane, Raw jute, Copra)
NRI VIEWPOINT
NRI Viewpoint
Ravi S. Harapanhalli (Potomac, MD 20854, USA)
The recently passed triad of farmers bills are intended to empower the primary producers of agricultural products by cutting the middlemen and red tape that has existed for too long since India’s independence. If India were to envision “One nation one market” in order to advance and be competitive on the world market, it must reform its obsolete and inefficient sytems and overcome its self-imposed import-export limitations read more...
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The Farmers Bill, 2020
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