Do you think the various measures taken by the government to improve agricultural marketing are sufficient? Discuss.
Answers
The government has taken various measures to improve agricultural marketing such as regulation of markets, development of infrastructure like cold storage, roads, railways and policy instruments but despite various attempts of the governments private trade (by moneylenders, rural political elites, big merchants and rich farmers) predominates agricultural markets. Also, there are many obstacles in the successful agricultural marketing system:
(i) Enforcement of standard weights.
(ii) Fixation of charges, fees, etc.
(iii) Settling of disputes among the operating parties in the market.
(iv) Prevention of uMawful deductions and control of wrong practices of middlemen.
(v) Providing reliable market information.
Provision of Infrastructural Facilities. The government has taken measures to develop infrastructural facilities like roads, railways, warehouses, godowns, cold storages and processing units.
Co-operative Market. Co-operative marketing is a measure to ensure a fair price to farmers. Member farmers sell their surplus to the co-operative society which substitutes collective bargaining in place of individual bargaining. It links rural credit farming marketing processes to the best advantage of the farmers.
Important Instruments to Safeguard the Interests of Farmers. The Government has also developed some instruments to safeguard the interests of farmers. These instruments are:
(i) Fixation of Minimum Support Price (MSP)
(ii) Buffer Stock
(iii) Public Distribution System (PDS).
The government has started agricultural schools to teach the farmers how to do farming in right way. They have made use of technological machines which helps in farming. Many pesticides for insects are there in market....