Regular Update
ATM News Network: Government has already given permission to farmers to sell farm produce directly. But a lot of work needs to be done through the Agricultural Produce Market Committee. There is a need to store agricultural produce. Farmers have to sell the goods without storage system. Farmers themselves cannot create such a large system, which is a big challenge. Farmer production companies are coming up, and a chain is being created from production to sale of agricultural products. Revenue and Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil asserted that if this experiment is successful, farmers will get an opportunity.
He was talking to reporters during an event in Nashik. Minister Vikhe Patil said, the marketing system in the state needs to be strengthened with the passage of time and there is a need to combine agriculture and marketing department. As the two accounts are held by two different persons, they are not reconciled. From storage of agricultural produce to post-harvest technology, the marketing department needs to focus on strengthening the cold chain post-Covid.
He said that farmers growing various crops, are coming together in every district through farmer producer companies. They are making arrangements to sell their goods in different markets. So, today, the monopoly of Agricultural Produce Market Committees is over.
Vikhe Patil said, farmers should banish the use of chemical fertilizers, drugs and pesticides. The fodder fed to the animals is sprayed with chemical pesticides and medicines. It has a negative effect on the milking of animals. Farmers need to use bio fertilizers and bio technology effectively.
The government is going to change the policy to raise funds for the production of ethanol, and some decisions are going to be taken for that. Quota system is being demanded in this year's sugar export policy. The Union Minister has accepted the request to reconsider the quota system so that sugar can be exported in the open market.
Also, we will soon announce a strategy to empower primary societies through twenty different activities to empower primary societies along with sugar factories, informed Vikhe Patil.
