Andhra Pradesh Agricultural Marketing Policy, 2015
GOVERNMENT OF
ANDHRA PRADESH
ABSTRACT
Andhra Pradesh
Agricultural Marketing Policy, 2015 – Adopted.
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AGRICULTURE AND
COOPERATION (AM.II ) DEPARTMENT
G.O.MS.No.
27 Dated: 06-06-2015
Read :-
The Andhra
Pradesh (Agricultural Produce & Livestock) Markets Act,
1966 (Act No.16
of 1966)
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ORDER:-
Agricultural Marketing
in the State of Andhra Pradesh has a long history
through various
legislations both under Madras Presidency and subsequently
under the
undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh (Agricultural
Produce and
Livestock) Markets Act, 1966 with many progressive provisions
guides the
arrangements for marketing of agricultural and livestock produce in
the State. This
Act has provisions for establishing markets for agricultural
produce and live
stock and prescribes methods to regulate the transactions in
the markets with
a view to protect the interest of the farmers in obtaining
competitive
prices for their produce.
2. Despite far
reaching progressive provisions incorporated in the 1966 Act,
the situation on
the ground did not change significantly in tune with the
provisions of
this Act. Farmers continue to remain vulnerable because of
inadequate
market structures and inadequate procedures in the existing
markets. Farmers
in most cases do not have any incentive to take their produce
to the market
yards because of these inadequacies. Very few Agricultural Market Committees
established the markets. Contract farming did not take off despite the enabling
provisions . Even the Cooperative Marketing Societies ended focusing on
input supplies and the marketing of agriculture produce has taken backseat. The
act also provided for establishment of private markets and even these have not
taken roots due to various constraints. It is recognized that lack of development
of appropriate market structures with transparent and efficient processes is a
major lacunae in the marketing arrangement for agriculture produce. Except
for paddy and sometimes maize which are largely handled by the government
agencies under the minimum support price operations, in respect of all
over agriculture produce local traders and middlemen filled the gap and established
themselves as the main agents for handling the agriculture produce.
3. Having regard
to the above situation, the Government felt it necessary to
undertake
systemic reforms in agricultural marketing, addressing institutional,
regulatory and
procedural issues to improve the transparency and efficiency of
the markets and
create competitive, credible and hassle free primary agriculture marketing
systems in the State.
4. The proposed
reforms on Agricultural Marketing would necessarily focus on
reduction/elimination
of barriers to participation in markets and barriers to trade by linking all
places of primary marketing and creation of a unified virtual market for whole State.
Implement measures to address the risks associated with trading and
settlement in the course of marketing the produce by the farmers, through
appropriate technology solutions and linkages with financial Institutions . it also involves
encouraging and promoting primary value addition through aggregation,
grading and packaging to respond to increasing and changing market demand
and the domestic and international markets, by creating awareness and
adherence to quality standards. Encouraging investments into infrastructure
for scientific storage and preservation of commodities and facilitating
warehouse based sales and subsequent linkages with secondary and national markets
will be part of the reform agenda. All this is proposed to be achieved through
increasing competition, encouraging quality standards for demand creation,
empowerment of farmers, development of market structures and making
appropriate changes to the regulatory environment.
5. Therefore,
the Government hereby adopt the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural
Marketing
Policy, 2015 as indicated in the annexure to this order.
6. The
Commissioner & Director of Agricultural Marketing, Andhra Pradesh,
Hyderabad, may
for the purpose of implementing the AP Agricultural Marketing Policy, 2015,
submit proposals to the Government wherever considered necessary for
issue of suitable orders.
(BYORDER AND IN
THE NAME OF THE GOVERNOR OF ANDHRA PRADESH)
L.PREMA CHANDRA
REDDY,
SECRETARY TO
GOVERNMENT (COOP.&MTG.)
ANNEXURE
ANDHRA
PRADESH AGRICULTURAL MARKETING POLICY - 2015
I.
BACKGROUND
1. Andhra
Pradesh has a long history of legislations to regulate agricultural
marketing
starting from Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Area) Commercial Crops and Markets Act,
1933 under Madras Presidency and subsequently under the
undivided Andhra
Pradesh. After reorganisation of States, recognising the
importance of
agricultural marketing, the Andhra Pradesh legislature enacted the Andhra Pradesh
(Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets Act, 1966. It
provided for
improved regulation in the marketing of agricultural produce,
development of
an efficient marketing system, promotion of agricultural processing, agricultural
export and the establishment and proper administration of markets for
agricultural produce. It also laid down procedures and systems for orderly
promotion of agricultural marketing in the state.
2. Agricultural
marketing scenario in the country and the state has undergone a sea change ever
since, owing to the increase in the quantity and the variety of
commodities
produced, the marketable surpluses, changing consumption pattern in the society,
linkages with the international market, etc. Therefore, the framework under
which markets for agricultural produce function in the state and the factors that
influence the Farmer prices has to be understood afresh and reckoned
suitably.
3. Apart from
the above, changing technologies, especially Information and
Communication
Technologies, have enabled many functions and capabilities
that were simply
inconceivable a few years ago. Increasing aspirations and
expectations of
the stakeholders in the marketing system also have an
overbearing
influence on the way these markets are organized and managed. It
is necessary to
recalibrate and adopt a policy for agricultural marketing in the
state that is
forward looking and that would provide an impetus for growth of the agrarian sector.
4. An enabling
legislative environment, investment in infrastructure and well operated markets spread
across the state provide reasonable means for farmers
to market their
produce. The Andhra Pradesh (Agricultural Produce and
Livestock)
Markets Act, 1966 was further amended in 2000 and 2011 to allow
establishment of
private markets, farmers-consumers market, contract farming, establishment of
spot exchanges, e-trading etc. However, for want of a
comprehensive
policy backing these amendments, many of these farmer friendly initiatives did
not translate into creating vibrant market structures. Therefore, Government
realizes the necessity to review the existing policies applicable to this sector.
5. Having regard
to the above, the policy seeks to address problems plaguing the sector, namely,
small land holdings and the consequent small marketable
surplus
available per farm, managing seasonal supply and the heavy arrivals of
farm products
during harvest to meet the perennial demand throughout the year, need to
physically move the commodity for accessing the market, considerable post-harvest
losses, lack of formal sources of financing both for the farmer and other market
participants, etc. Moreover, the policy also seeks to increase competition,
better price realization to the farmer, to encourage investments in warehousing
infrastructure, assaying and grading facilities, cold chains, food processing,
etc., and make this sector an attractive one for generating employment in
rural areas for equitable growth of the state.
II.
OBJECTIVES
1. The overall
objective of this policy is to create a market structure that is
transparent and
equitable, distinguishes quality and variety, disseminates
relevant market information
to all market participants for a level playing field,
provides easy
access to all participants and ensures fair returns to all
stakeholders,
with the seller having the choice to decide the time, place and
avenue of sale.
2. Reduction in
and/or elimination of barriers to participation in markets to foster competition and
efficient determination of price, linking the primary market in the state to the
national market for the benefit of all stakeholders in the marketing chain.
3. Address the
risks associated with clearing and settlement that arise in course of marketing of
produce by the farmer or by the subsequent buyer, through
technology
solutions or other appropriate means with linkages to financial
institutions.
4. Encourage and
promote primary value addition through aggregation, grading and packaging at
the village level through farmer self help
groups/societies/associations/producer
companies to respond to increasing and changing market
demand, in domestic, regional and international markets.
Create awareness
on adherence to quality standards for better price realisation.
5. Enhancing the
skill levels of all stakeholders in the marketing system through well designed
capacity building intervention efforts, for deriving benefits arising from primary
value addition, modern practices adopted in storage, processing, market systems
and the like, with the state playing an active role in stakeholder education
effort.
6. Improving
access to finance to all market participants, scientific storage and
preservation of
commodities, encouraging investment in infrastructure for market access, and
enabling primary value addition of the commodities.
7. Encouraging
setting up of new institutions and strengthening of existing ones to provide state of
the art facilities to all stakeholders, fostering self-help
groups(SHGs) and
Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) for improving the
bargaining power
and holding capacity of farmers to handle the challenges in
marketing.
8. Establishment
of a progressive regulatory environment distinct from the
operational
level that provides an environment for public and private initiatives to function in
tandem for the benefit of all stakeholders, with the government playing an
enabling role.
9. Adopting and
leveraging technology at all levels for efficient operations of
markets would be
critical in realizing the objectives of this policy.
10. Through
these measures, effectively implement the farmer friendly initiatives introduced
through the Andhra Pradesh(Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets
Act,1966. In pursuit of
the above objectives, the key initiatives of the Government would be as
under.
III.
POLICY INITIATIVES
1.
Regulated markets—
a) Functional
Markets currently operating across the state, would adopt technology required for
setting up a comprehensive electronic auction system for transparent
price determination.
b) A state wide
networked virtual market would be established by linking various regulated
markets, warehouses and cold storages provided with assaying & grading
facilities and other necessary infrastructure.
2.
Increasing Competition—
a) As an
immediate measure, licensing procedures would be simplified and a single unified license
would be made applicable for participants.
b) Conditions
that restrict participation would be removed to increase competition in the auction of
the agricultural produce.
c)
Administrative processes with regard to license would be simplified and
automated for
improved efficiency.
3.
Private markets –
a) Private
markets would be encouraged on a level playing field for providing an alternate
facility for marketing of agricultural produce while being part of the networked
market.
b) Farmers and
other participants would have the choice to offer/ sell in any
regulated or
private market in the state.
c) Private
markets and regulated markets would compete to provide services to
farmers and
other participants.
4.
Quality standards for Demand creation—
a) Initiate
steps for laying down quality standards for various agricultural
commodities and
for creating infrastructure for sampling and assaying the
produce in
markets, warehouses and cold storages to facilitate quality based
trading of the
produce; and
b) Undertake
capacity building programmes to create awareness on quality
standards
amongst various participants and its importance for creating demand in the domestic,
regional and international markets.
5.
Empowering Farmers—
a) Organize
farmers groups to initiate primary value addition and encourage village level
aggregation, to enhance the bargaining power of farmers to improve price realization and
shorten the food value chain by introducing direct marketing/ sourcing of
agricultural produce from the farmers to the consumers, retailers, processors and
exporters.
b) To provide
alternate and safe storage options through accreditation of
warehouses and
encourage Warehouse based sales enabling farmers to sell
from accredited
warehouses.
c) Creating an
enabling environment and facilitate the farmers to avail pledge loans to avoid distress
sale.
d) Effective
dissemination of market price information enabling farmer to know the prevailing price
of the produce, before he decides to sell.
e) Simplified
processes and online timely payment to the farmers account.
f) Enabling the
Farmer to decide when to sell the produce and at what price, with a right to reject
the price offered.
6.
Market development –
a) Through an
appropriate public private partnership arrangement, Government would provide
state of the art technology for marketing of produce and attendant requirements.
c) Facilitate
the development of an efficient and effective agricultural marketing information
system and establish a reliable information dissemination system for the benefit of
all stakeholders.
d) Establish
linkages with the secondary market in select commodities to
participants in
the state, encouraging producer companies, aggregation of farmer produce and
other measures for realisation of better prices.
e) Linkages with
financial institution would be established to facilitate seamless clearing and
settlement mechanism as well as facilitate pledge loans to the farmers and
other market participants.
f) Adequate
safeguards will be put in place to ensure timely online payments to the farmers.
g) Appropriate
procedures will be put in place for timely resolution of trade related disputes with
Commission Agents/ Assayers or any other market participants .
7.
Contract Farming—
To promote
contract farming in the state and have a single point for registering
contract-farming
sponsors with procedures for timely settlement of disputes by
the registering
authority.
8.
Infrastructure—
a) Key and
strategic agricultural marketing infrastructure will be developed;
b) The Government
will put in place enabling and conducive environment for
private sector
and other stakeholders’ investment in the agricultural marketing
infrastructures
by encouraging establishment of warehousing and logistic parks in each of the
districts to function as marketing hubs and be part of the state wide marketing
network, with appropriate incentives.
9.
Regulatory and legislative environment –
The Andhra
Pradesh(Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets Act, 1966
would be
reviewed to facilitate the aforesaid policy objectives and initiatives and to create a
distinct, level playing regulatory environment for the transparent and efficient
functioning of agricultural markets in the state.
L.PREMA CHANDRA
REDDY,
SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT
(COOP.&MKTG.)
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