Of the total 224 Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) in Gujarat, 35 APMCs (15 per cent of the total APMCs) require support to become self-reliant. They do not have any transactions at the Mandis. This was shared during a meet to review the 2030 roadmap for the development of Gujarat’s agricultural sector, Wednesday.
According to a study presented by Manish Bhardwaj, secretary, Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department, nearly 35 APMCs need support. Each group comprises hundreds and thousands of independent farmers. “Of these 35, 23 APMCs have a physical market yard to facilitate sale but there are no arrivals at the mandi. The remaining do not even have a physical market yard. They require support on an urgent basis,” his paper noted.
There are 224 APMCs in Gujarat where farmers can bring their produce and sell. APMCs have recorded transactions around Rs 37,000 crore where agricultural produce is sold through open auction. This is just 26 per cent of the total value of agricultural production in Gujarat which is between Rs 1.4-1.5 lakh crore. While 78 per cent of the onion and 79 per cent of the spices make it to APMCs, the arrivals of crops like cotton and groundnut to APMCs are as low as 16 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.
“Aatmanirbhar Farmers of Gujarat: Roadmap 2030,” a publication unveiled by Governor Acharya Devvrat at a pre-Vibrant Gujarat event at Anand Agricultural University (AAU) Tuesday, lists definite steps to make APMCs in the state “self-sustainable and profitable.” It stated that both physical and digital infrastructure of APMCs will be developed to help them attract more farmers (sell their produce) and more buyers and traders (who can purchase the produce).
The state government is also working on augmenting warehousing space to the existing 12 lakh metric tonne storage facility. This will be done by an annual addition of 50,000 metric tonne to the existing 5,00,000 metric tonnes.
“To address the gap of warehousing capacity requirement and availability, APMCs are the best institutions. The Government of Gujarat has allocated Rs 100 crore to support the development of warehouses at identified APMCs. Currently, 39 APMCs have submitted their proposals which will augment the capacity by around 2.27 lakh MT,” the roadmap document briefed.
