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Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC)

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Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.

APMCs are intended to be responsible for:

There are about 2477 principal regulated markets based on geography (the APMCs) and 4843 sub-market yards regulated by the respective APMCs in India.[1]

The typical amenities available in or around the APMCs are: auction halls, weigh bridges, godowns, shops for retailers, canteens, roads, lights, drinking water, police station, post-office, bore-wells, warehouse, farmers amenity center, tanks, Water Treatment plant, soil-testing Laboratory, toilet blocks, etc.

The list of online APMCs may be seen here.


Legal Background of APMCs
Under Constitution of India, agricultural marketing is a state (provincial) subject. While intra-state trades fall under the jurisdiction of state governments, inter-state trading comes under Central or Federal Government (including intra-state trading in a few commodities like raw jute, cotton, etc.)[2]. Thus, agricultural markets are established and regulated mostly under the various State APMC Acts.
Most of the state governments and Union Territories have since enacted legislations (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act) to provide for development of agricultural produce markets and to achieve an efficient system of buying and selling of agricultural commodities. Except the States of Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Manipur and small Union Territories such as Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, etc. all other States and UTs in the country have enacted such State Marketing Legislations. The purpose of these Acts is basically the same i.e. regulation of trading practices, increased market efficiency through reduction in market charges, elimination of superfluous intermediaries and protecting the interest of producer-seller.

The whole geographical area in the State is divided and each one is declared as a market area which is managed by the Market Committee (APMC) constituted by the State Government. States also constitute a Market Board which supervises these market committees. APMCs generally consist of representatives of farmers, traders, warehousing entities, registrar of cooperative societies etc. Market Boards generally consists of chairmen of all APMCs, representatives from the relevant Government Departments etc.

Once a particular area is declared as a market area and falls under the jurisdiction of a Market Committee, no person or agency is allowed to freely carry on wholesale marketing activities. APMC Acts provide that first sale in the notified agricultural commodities produced in the region such as cereals, pulses, edible oilseed, fruits and vegetables and even chicken, goat, sheep, sugar, fish etc., can be conducted only under the aegis of the APMC, through its licensed commission agents, and subject to payment of various taxes and fee. The producers of agricultural products are thus forced to do their first sale in these markets.


The main differences in Acts of different states/UTs are noted in the following areas:-
Commodity coverage – A few states cover all the commodities while others provide the list.
Market Committee – There are differences in no. of market committees and number of members therein, the appointment of committee members etc.

Agricultural Marketing Boards – variations in powers exercised by the Boards in different states i.e. their role vary from advisory to binding.

Demarcation of functions between Director Marketing and Board – Administrative structure for the implementation structure of the Act vary from state to state in terms of functions assigned.


Functioning of APMCs: Issues involved
The APMC system was introduced to prevent distress sale by farmers to their creditors, to protect farmers from the exploitation of intermediaries and traders and to ensure better prices and timely payment for their produce through the auctions in the APMC area. However, APMC Acts restrict the farmer from entering into direct contract with any processor/ manufacturer/ bulk processor as the produce is required to be routed through these regulated markets.  Over a period of time, these markets have acquired the status of restrictive and Monopolistic markets, harming the farmers rather than helping them to realise remunerative prices.

The APMC Act treats APMC as an arm of the state and the market fee as the tax levied by the state, rather than as a fee charged for providing services, which acts as a major impediment in creating a national common market.   Various taxes, fees/charges and cess levied on the trades conducted in the markets or Mandis are also notified under the APMC Act.  APMCs charge a market fee from buyers, and a licensing fee from the commissioning agents who mediate between buyers and farmers. They also charge small licensing fees from a whole range of functionaries (warehousing agents, loading agents etc.). In addition, commissioning agents charge commission fees on transactions between buyers and farmers. The levies and other market charges imposed by states vary widely. Statutory levies/mandi tax, VAT etc. all add up to hefty amounts, create market distortions with cascading effects and  strong entry barriers. Further, multiple licences are necessary to trade in different market areas in the same State. All this has led to a highly fragmented and high-cost agricultural economy, which prevents economies of scale and seamless movement of agri goods across district and State borders.

APMC operations are hidden from scrutiny as the fee collected, which are at times exorbitant, is not under State legislature’s approval.  Agents in an APMC may get together to form a cartel. This creates a monoposony (a market situation where there is only one buyer who then exercises control over the price at which he buys) situation. Produce is procured at manipulatively discovered price and sold at higher price, defeating the very purpose of APMCs. 

Further, APMCs play dual role of regulator and Market. Consequently, their role as regulator is undermined by vested interest in lucrative trade. Generally, member and chairman are nominated/elected out of the agents operating in that market.

Exporters, processors and retail chain operators cannot procure directly from the farmers as the produce is required to be channelised through regulated markets and licensed traders. There is, in the process, an enormous increase in the cost of marketing and farmers end up getting a low price for their produce. Monopolistic practices and modalities of the state-controlled markets have prevented private investment in the sector. Thus, the monopoly of Government regulated wholesale markets has prevented development of a competitive marketing system on a pan-India basis, providing no help to farmers in direct marketing, organizing retailing, a smooth raw material supply to agro-processing industries and adoption of innovative marketing system and technologies.


Model APMC Act of 2003
An efficient agricultural marketing is essential for the development of the agriculture sector as it provides outlets and incentives for increased production and contribute to the commercialization of subsistence farmers. Worldwide Governments have recognized the importance of liberalized agriculture markets. Keeping, this in view, Ministry of Agriculture formulated a model law on agricultural marketing - State Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, 2003 and requested the state governments to suitably amend their respective APMC Acts for deregulation of the marketing system in India, to promote investment in marketing infrastructure, thereby motivating the corporate sector to undertake direct marketing and to facilitate a national  market.

The Model APMC Act, 2003 provided for the freedom of farmers to sell their produce. The farmers could sell their produce directly to the contract-sponsors or in the market set up by private individuals, consumers or producers. The Model Act also increases the competitiveness of the market of agricultural produce by allowing common registration of market intermediaries.

Salient Features of the Model APMC Act:[3]

As per the final report of the Committee of State Ministers, in-charge of Agriculture Marketing to Promote Reforms, submitted in January 2013, only 16 States have amended their Act and only six states have notified the amended Rules. There are some States which do not have APMC Act and some have partially amended their Act. Karnataka Model provides for a single licensing system, offers automated auction and post auction facilities. It also facilitate warehouse-based sale of produce, facilitate commodity funding, prices dissemination by leveraging technology and private sector investment in marketing infrastructure.

The Model APMC Act does not go far enough to create a national or even state level common market for agriculture commodities. The Act retains the mandatory requirement of the buyers having to pay APMC charges even when the produce is sold directly outside the APMC area. Though the Model Act provides for setting up of markets by private sector, this is not adequate to create competition even within the state since the owner will have to collect fees/taxes on behalf of the APMC in addition to their own charges. 


Suggestions in Economic Survey 2014-15 to Create a National Common Market in Agricultural Commodities:
The Economic Survey 2014-15 emphasizes on the need for a national common agricultural market (a Budget Announcement of 2014-15) and identifies un-integrated and distortion ridden agricultural market as the one of the most striking problems in agriculture growth. The Economic Survey suggests 3 incremental steps as possible solutions for setting up a national market. 

As a last resort, the Economic Survey suggests using Constitutional provisions to create a national common market for agricultural commodities.

Economic Survey reemphasize that India needs a national common market for agricultural commodities by making the Agricultural Produce Market Committee just one among many options available for the farmers to sell their produce. 


The National Agricultural Market (NAM)
Union Budget 2014-15 (para 82) and Union Budget 2015-16 (para 33) had suggested the creation of a National Agricultural Market (NAM) as a priority issue. On 2 July 2015, Union Cabinet unveiled its plan to go ahead with the project amidst the constitutional constrains as mentioned above.

The National Agriculture Market is envisaged as a pan-India electronic trading portal which seeks to network the existing APMCs and other market yards to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. NAM is a “virtual” market but it has a physical market (mandi) at the back end. NAM is proposed to be achieved through the setting up of a common e-platform to which initially 585 APMCs selected by the states will be linked. The Central Government will provide the software free of cost to the states and in addition a grant of up to Rs. 30 lakhs per mandi will be given as a onetime measure for related equipment and infrastructure requirements. In order to promote genuine price discovery, it is proposed to provide the private mandis also with access to the software but they would not have any monetary support from Government.



1. Source: Economic Survey 2014-15

2. Constitutional Provisions regarding Agricultural markets
Schedule VII of the Constitution of India details the allocation of subjects between the state and the Union Governments.
The subject “Markets and fairs”, is covered in entry 28 of the State List in the Schedule VII of the Constitution of India and hence, the intra-state commodity trading is subject to the regulation of the State Governments in their respective jurisdictions.
However, “inter-state trade and commerce”, is covered in the entry 42 of the Union List and hence comes under the purview of the Union / Central Government.
Entry 26 of the State List covers ‘Trade and Commerce within the State” but made it subject to the provisions of Entry 33 of List III (Concurrent list wherein both State and Union have powers) which is as follows:
33. Trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of,—
a) the products of any industry where the control of such industry by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest, and imported goods of the same kind as such products;
b) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils;
c) cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates;
d) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seed; and
e)raw jute.
Thus, the Parliament is competent to enact legislation covering trade and commerce – inter-state and intra-state in the above commodities.

3. {http://agmarknet.nic.in/amrscheme/modelact.htm# Salient Features}


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