Review of Union Budget 2004 at XIMB: Is Agriculture Shining In India?

Review of Union Budget 2004
Is Agriculture Shining In India?
At XIM, Bhubaneswar

Structural Issues Left Unaddressed - Part IV

The prominent activities like grading, standardization, scientific storage linked with information on suitable markets for excess of marketable surplus, education of farmers in pre- and post- harvest management and facilities in the markets have become secondary activities. Economic Survey 2003-04 indicated that the Model Act for State Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2003 developed by the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation needs urgent attention. Some of its major recommendations include

(i) no compulsion on producers to sell their produce in existing rural markets for ensuring efficient supply-demand balance,

(ii) establishment of direct purchasing centers to facilitate direct marketing and develop contract farming for facilitating direct contract between the producers and sellers and remove the price-distorting middlemen from the scene, and

(iii) State Market Boards to promote standardization, grading, quality certification and market-led extension and training of farmers and market functionaries.

These would lead to capacity building of the farmer in terms of empowering him with information that he can exploit for his own interest. Freeing agriculture from many archive controls will benefit to everyone. But the question is, whether the government policy will flesh out structural issues and when?

Concluded.

Authored by -
Dr. D. Triparti Rao, Assistant Professor, Economics,
Amaresh Mishra, Post Graduate Programme in Business Management,
Contributed by -
IlluminatiX - The Media and PR Cell,
XIM, Bhubaneswar.