In the food bowl of Punjab and Haryana, the farm-to-market apparatus pivots on a time-tested template—the farmer produces, the aarthiya or commission agent helps sell the produce for a fee, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) regulates sales and collects taxes, and the trading happens at the mandi. This winding process involves about 70,000 aarthiyas, 18 lakh seasonal labourers and 8,500 employees at market committees and mandis or wholesale markets. Quite naturally, as the numbers suggest, there’s big money. Sample this: the trading fee on wheat and paddy brings Punjab revenue up to Rs 4,000 crore a year. That aside, about 40,000 aarthiyas in the state earn about Rs 1,600 crore as ‘commission’, while the earnings of around 10 lakh workers engaged in loading and unloading grains at mandis stand at Rs 1,100 crore, according to 2019 figures.

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And predictably, any attempt to rock the boat is bound to set off a backlash. Many people related to agriculture in the two states are unhappy with the Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020. The new legislation enables farmers to sell their produce outside APMC-controlled mandis, giving them the freedom to skirt the middleman.

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The aarthiyas and APMC managers fear the law will take away their livelihood and the sprawling network of regulated mandis in Punjab will become redundant. “The hidden agenda is to promote multinational companies…break the bond between aarthiyas and farmers,” says Ravinder Cheema, president, Punjab Aarthiya Association. He has reasons to be salty: the aarthiyas would lose their commission of 8.5 per cent if farmers sell their harvest directly to the buyer, who in all likelihood would be a big businessman or company. “The objective is to…attract large-scale corporate investment into agri-businesses. But corporatising agriculture could threaten lakhs of people’s livelihood,” says A.S. Mittal, vice chairman, Punjab State Planning Board.

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In mandis, a question resonates. Why change when the system allows flexibility to farmers and buyers? Vijay Kalra, vice chairman, Punjab Mandi Board, explains: “The state has amended its APMC act for a single licence and to set up private market yards for direct purchase from farmers. The law deals with the first farmer-buyer transaction, never interfering with the trade in any manner.”

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By Harish Manav in Chandigarh