APMC Act amended, retailers to buy from farmers

Pune, Apr 22: The Maharashtra government has approved the amendments to the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act that allows retailers like Reliance, ITC and Feel Fresh to market farm produce through their chain of stores, said State Agricultural Marketing Minister, Harshavardhan Patil.

Talking to reporters yesterday, the minister informed that the governor had signed the ''Model'' Act that allows for a contract system for the retailers to buy and sell farm produce directly.

However, the state government will also give 50 per cent subsidy to the APMC to improve the infrastructure to be in the market. ''The only formality left is for the rules and regulations to be read out in the cabinet meeting,'' he added.

To a query about elections to the APMC, the minister said the issue had been studied and the state government would like to hold elections every five years to the body. Currently, APMC affairs and elections are held by the committees if the turnover is less than Rs five crore rupees and by the District Collector if the turnover is more than the said amount. Some of the committees have not held elections for as long as eight years, he said.

UNI