Anand Agriculture Produce Market Committee Samrakha

Prepared by: Mayank Gaur Rahul Agrawal Rajeev Aggarwal Tahira Sheikh Ritu Kashyap

Introduction
Established on 15th September, 1948 under APMC Act. A regulated market with effect from its inception. Caters to around 1,50,000 population and serves as many as 48 villages. Number of commodities notified till date under the regulation are 27 Daily dispatch of 1211.8 MT to outside market. However during peak season it goes up to 1500 MT per day.

The APMC Act

Gujarat Agriculture Produce Market Act 1963 To ensure reasonable gain to the farmers by creating environment in the markets for fair play of supply and demand forces To regulate market practices and attain transparency in transactions Aimed at providing proper method of sale, correct weighing, prompt payment, and various marketing related services

Functions of APMC
Measures for prevention of purchases and sales below the minimum support prices as fixed by the government Ensuring payment for agricultural produce sold by farmers on the same day Collect, maintain, disseminate and supply information in respect of production, sale, storage, processing, prices and movement of notified agricultural produce Provide for settling of disputes arising out of any kind of transactions connected with the marketing of agricultural produce

APMC Supply Chain

Cash Basis Credit Basis (3-4 days)

Farmer

Trader

Whole Seller

Retailer

Credit Basis (7-8 days)

APMC A civil Society/Beneficiary org.

It would act as the REPORTING TOOL which would help us in gauging the desired outcome- Proper market and fair price It is a policy tool that can guide evidence-based planning and action to address issues identified as important by the farmers, traders and wholesaler If the stakeholders are informed, it would help in building and strengthening democracy

Policy Lacunae
Facilitating a supply chain with a large number of intermediaries, thereby reducing the profitability of agriculture Reducing scope for competition due to the licensing regime adopted APMC laws are inadvertently promoting use of intermediaries by not permitting trade outside the market yards

Samrakha APMC Governance Board Structure

4 Whole seller Community
2 Telibiyat Mandali Members

8 Farmer Reps

The Governing Board

1 Registrar and 1 Sub Registrar (Auditor)

Samrakha APMC Governance Board Members

Total 16 members in the Governing Board 8 Farmer members elected by the Sewa Sahakari Mandali
o 30 villages, 11 Members, 2 Panels

4 members from the Whole seller Community Telibiyat Mandali offers loans to the farmers. State Government representatives- Registrar and Sub Registrar which are also permanent members of the board.

Samrakha APMC Governance Board Workings and Employees

Elections held every five years. Only the elected members are changed. Meetings are held once in two months. Employees
o 1 Head Inspector, 3 Clerks, 1 Peon.

Samrakha APMC Governance Grievance Redressal

Helpline for farmers Monitoring and controlling by the Head Inspector but regular monitoring and control mechanisms found to be missing Passive control approach Database of grievances not maintained The clerk said that farmers dont face or report much of an issue.

Samrakha APMC Governance Information Disclosure

Farmer can call the APMC Helpline to know about the current prices Escalation point Confidentiality of the whistle blower

Samrakha APMC Governance Licensing

License is mandatory for a trader License fee Approximate time to obtain a license Decision taken in the Board meeting Deposit of Rs.225000 per shop Profit making by transfer of ownership License not required for the farmer At present there are no vacant shops

Samrakha APMC Operations

The shopkeepers in the APMC market who are agents negotiate the price with the retailers and large wholesalers who purchase from the market. Open auction takes place in the presence of the farmer, trader and the wholesaler/retailer. The auction and the transaction are complete only if the negotiated price is acceptable to the farmer. Trader gets his commission @5% from the retailer/wholesaler.

Samrakha APMC Operations

The agent also charges a 1% commission from the wholesaler and this is deposited as market fees. More bargaining power lies with trader and an informal cartel has developed among them The factors that play an important role in determining the price of vegetables brought in the mandi- demand, supply and quality of the produce. The APMC market allows the farmer to sell his produce in bulk at the same time.

Samrakha APMC Operations

No formal mechanism of sorting or grading. If farmer is not satisfied with the price offered, he has the option of selling elsewhere or he is also provided space in the APMC market free of cost to sell on his own

Samrakha APMC - Issues

Though there is provision for cold storage, APMC has not constructed one as they are not to willing to take responsibility to run the cold storage facility There is no system of display of prices as it is felt that this might lead to excessive supply of commodities which they cant handle The unloading charge(Hammali) has to be borne by the farmer even though in the act it is stated that it has to borne by the trader There is wastage of vegetables due to improper infrastructure. 30-35 bags of onions were wasted in 15 days due to fans not working properly Computerized records are not maintained for transactions and prices Due to lack of standardized weighing machines, weighing error occurs.

Reflections
APMC act in some ways restrict the choices for the farmer The licensing fees and other costs borne by the traders are partially passed on to the farmers Trader/commission agent plays a vital role and it is difficult to eliminate him from the supply chain APMC staff is responsive to farmers grievances and the farmer can directly approach the APMC office for their issues Chances of corruption with contract farming being allowed under the new act as the contracts have to be registered with the Committee Absence of horizontal networks and dependency for farmers still prevails

Role of the State

Maharashtra government has launched-GOVERNANCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACTION PLAN (GAAP) -Regular reporting to higher authority -Monitoring by Civil society / Beneficiary Organization -Complaint handling mechanisms Feedback from bidding firms-provide valuable insights into the behavior of the implementing agencies during the procurement process. For this reason, feedback from rejected bidders, as also from reputed firms that chose not to bid for supply, construction, or other contracts in the project would be invited. The State should focus on getting the infrastructure and institutions in place and provide competitive environment to enable farmers to exercise choice

 Thank You!