Contract farming to empower farmers
Contract farming to empower farmers Sharad Pawar - minister of agriculture, consumer affairs, food & public distribution, addressed the `National conference on emerging platform for agriculture marketing`. He said, “Contract farming can empower farmers with technology and provide them better market access“.He expressed the hope that, pricing arrangements through contract farming would significantly reduce the risk and uncertainty, of market place. The minister stated that, emergence of organized retail in recent years, led to demand for quality produce and thereby private investment in supply chain infrastructure is getting a boost. Modern food retailing will lower marketing costs and lead to lower prices for consumers and higher realization for farmers. Concerns expressed about the impact of contract farming and organized retail chains on ru ral India and small farmers, need to be addressed, he added. The minister pointed out that, the establishment of modern terminal market complexes would ensure both backward and forward linkages to farmers. The newly proposed electronic spot markets can provide a viable alternative to the existing practice of the mandi system, by improving the decision making capability of the farmers and strengthening their bargaining power. The minister called for an in-depth analysis of how marketing development infrastructure can be catalyzed in public-private partnership mode.
