The three farm Acts introduced by the Central Government are immensely useful and would help doubling farmers’ income, said ICAR-CIFA Director Dr Saroj Kumar Swain.
As a part of the reforms, the minimum support price (MSP) has increased significantly from September 2020 as a safety net. The farmers are given freedom of choice to sell in APMC mandi or outside (ending the monopoly).
The farmers will also enjoy the benefit of online trading, he said. Besides, the long chain of intermediaries will be reduced to minimum or no intermediary, which will help the farmers getting higher share in consumer rupees, he told. The concept of contract farming will be spread to more number of farmers with proper price assurance and boosting the linkage with food processing sector. Through this, the rights of both farmers and buyers will be under protection.
Reduction in market fees and taxes will realise a better price discovery. The small and marginal farmers having scattered landholding will be benefitted through forming Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and it will ultimately help for better bargaining power, Dr Swain said. These three farm laws when implemented throughout country would help realising the goal of doubling farmers’ income by year 2022, Dr Swain added.