New Delhi: Announcing the third tranche of Rs 20 lakh crore special economic package, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a series of measures for ushering in reforms in agriculture and allied activities.
She said that the government will amend six-and-a-half-decade old Essential Commodities Act to deregulate food items, including cereals, edible oil, oilseeds, pulses, onion and potato.
“Government will amend Essential Commodities Act to enable better price realisation for farmers. Agriculture foodstuffs, including cereals, edible oils, oilseeds, pulses, onions and potato, will be deregulated,” the Finance Minister announced.
No stock limit on any agri produce
The amendment, besides deregulating production and sale of food products, will provide for no stock limit to be imposed on any produce.
A stock limit will be imposed only under very exceptional circumstances like national calamities, famine with a surge in prices.
Also, agriculture marketing reforms will be done to provide marketing choices to farmers. She said Rs 15,000 crore Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund will be set up to support investment in dairy processing, value addition and cattle feed infrastructure.
To ensure 100 per cent vaccination of all livestock against foot and mouth disease (FMD) Rs 13,343 crore will be provided, she said.
Also, Operation Greens will be extended from tomato, onion and potato to all fruit and vegetables by providing 50 per cent subsidy on transportation and storage of these commodities, she said.
For beekeepers, a Rs 500-crore scheme was announced for infrastructure development and post-harvest facilities.
