Why is there so much opposition to the new agriculture bill in Punjab and Haryana?

New Delhi, September 8, 2020, Saturday

Opposition to the three new agricultural bills is most prevalent in Haryana and Punjab in India. Farmers and traders are allowed to sell goods outside the mandi house. The provision of the second bill is to link farmers with agribusiness firms, processors, wholesalers and pessimists. The third bill seeks to remove cereals, deficient oils, onions, potatoes, etc. from the list of essential items.

The government buys the most wheat and rice from farmers, with Punjab and Haryana far ahead. The government buys 30% of the total foodgrain production in Punjab and Haryana. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana are increasingly dissatisfied with the new bill's provision to remove APMC market-based restrictions, fearing that farmers will not get MSP (Minimum Support Price). Although there has been no clarification from the government on the removal of the MSP, opposition to the bill has been mixed with politics. Opposition groups called for the beleagured PM to resign. The situation in Punjab and Haryana is not similar to that of other states in the country in terms of MSP. According to the 2016-17 report of the Ministry of Agriculture, less than 10 per cent farmers in the country sell their produce at MSP. This means that farmers do not get much benefit from the government's purchase of foodgrains.

In other words, farmers are already dependent on the market. The importance of the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) which is called Khet Mandi in Hindi will also be jeopardized by the Agricultural Reforms Bill. According to the new bill, farmers will be able to sell farm produce as they wish. The government has clarified that APMC will also exist so farmers do not have to worry. At one time the government wanted to repeal the Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act, but the example of Bihar exists. Bihar is the first state in the country to repeal the APMC Act in 2006. Despite the entry of the private sector in the agricultural sector in Bihar, the farmers of Bihar have not benefited much. Prices of cereals like wheat and maize have gone up since the repeal of the APMC Act but income uncertainty for farmers has remained the same. This uncertainty has led to a decline in agricultural growth.

According to State of India's Livelihood 2018, the system of selling agricultural products has been adversely affected. Therefore, it is wrong for farmers to benefit from the open market instead of APMC. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana are benefiting from MSPs and are therefore unwilling to accept any change in the current system. Although the situation in Punjab and Haryana is very different compared to Bihar, farmers believe that they will have to face market challenges like Bihar. Farmers fear that the bill will lead to the abolition of APMC and the completion of the grain procurement process. Dependence on the market is bound to increase in a situation where the benchmark for setting prices for farmers will not remain the same.