Government Measures to Improve Agricultural Marketing

Government Measures to Improve Agricultural Marketing

The organisation of regulated markets:

The management of such protect the farmers from the malpractices of sellers and brokers. markets are done by a Market Committee which has nominees of the State Government, local bodies, brokers and farmers. Thus all interests are represented on the committee. These committees are appointed by the government for a specified period of time.

Important functions performed by the committees can be summarised as follows :

i) fixation of charges for weighing, brokerage, etc; ii) prevention of unauthorised deductions, underhand dealings and wrong practices by the merchants; iii) enforcing the use of standardised weights; iv) providing up to date and reliable market information to the farmers, and v) setting of disputes among the parties arising out of market operations.

Grading and Standardisation

Improvements in the agricultural marketing system cannot be expected unless specific attempts at grading and standardization of the agricultural products are made. The government set up a Central Quality Control Laboratory at Nagpur and a number of regional subsidiary quality control laboratories. Samples of important products are obtained from the market and their physical and chemical properties are analysed in these laboratories.

On these bases, grades are drawn up and authorized packers are issued AGMARK seals (AGMARK is simply an abbreviation for Agricultural Marketing). Important commodities graded under AGMARK for internal consumption include cotton, vegetable oils, ghee, cream, butter, eggs, rice, wheat, jaggery, pulses, honey and ground spices.

Use of Standard Weights

One of the main defects of unregulated markets was that non-standard and arbitrary weights were used by the merchants and brokers to cheat the farmers. To stop this practice, the government undertook a number of steps. It passed the Standard Weights Act as far back as 1939. The Central government adopted the Metric System of Measures in 1958 when an Act to this effect was passed by the Parliament.

Godown & Storage Facilities

It is necessary to provide a network of godown facilities all over the country so that the farmers are not compelled to sell their produce immediately after the harvesting of crops. This will enhance the bargaining power of farmers and save them from distress sales (which have to be resorted to when the product gets damaged or rotten lying in open fields). This increases their staying power and enables them to wait till fair prices are promised for their produce. Keeping such considerations in view, the Rural Credit Survey Committee (1954) recommended a three-tier storage system. In accordance with these recommendations, Central Warehousing Corporation was set up in 1957 and this was followed by the establishment of State Warehousing Corporations in a number of States. Food Corporation of India was also set up at the national level.

Dissemination of Market Information

To inform the farmers about the prices prevailing in different markets, the government has initiated a number of steps. For example, prices in important markets are broadcast daily by the All India Radio Trends on market prices are reviewed weekly in special programmes and talks organised by the A.I.R. and Doordarshan. Market reports are displayed in a number of markets all over the country. These reports collect vital information on stocks, market arrivals, sales, prices, etc. and are published periodically. The newspapers also publish agricultural prices either daily or weekly accompanied by a short review of trends.

Directorate of Marketing & Inspection

This Directorate was set up by the Government of India to coordinate the agricultural marketing activities of various agencies and to advise the Central and State governments on the problems of agricultural marketing.

  1. Promotion of grading and standardisation of agricultural and allied commodities.
  2. Statutory regulation of markets and market practices
  3. Training or personnel
  4. Market extension
  5.  Market research, survey, and planning
  6. Administration of Cold Storage Order, 1980, and Meat Food Products Order, 1973.

Government Purchases and Fixation of Support Prices

In addition to the measures mentioned above, the government also announces minimum support prices and procurement prices for various agricultural commodities from time to time in a bid to ensure fair returns to the farmers. These prices are fixed in accordance with the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

  1. Government agencies, like the Food Corporation of India, purchase agricultural commodities from farmers at these fairly enumerative prices and these purchases, in turn, are sold off by the government at reasonable prices through the PDS. PDS, therefore, serves two purposes,
  2. Purchasing commodities at prices that ensure a reasonable profit to the producers thus 15 shielding them from the danger of selling their output at depressed prices;
  3. Supplying these commodities at low prices to ultimate consumers.

National Institute of Agricultural Marketing

The National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM), earlier known as the Centre for Agricultural Marketing (CAM) was established in 1988.

The main aims and objectives of the Institute are :

  1. To augment the agricultural marketing infrastructure of the country through programmes of teaching, research and consultancy services;
  2. To design, and construct training courses appropriate to the specific identified needs of the personnel and enterprises and institutions that they serve;
  3. To undertake research to demonstrate and replicate better management techniques in the field of agricultural marketing;
  4. To provide consultancy services for formulating investment projects and for problem-solving advice.
  5. To offer educational programmes in agricultural marketing for supplementing the existing facilities.

Here are the notes for Functions Of The National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development.

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