Digitalisation will end exploitation of farmers: NITI Aayog Member

Tirupati: Digital transaction would benefit the farmers more as they would help effectively check unscrupulous elements exploiting them, said NITI Aayog member Prof Ramesh Chand.

He was addressing a State-level meeting on the ‘Status on various reforms taken up in the Agriculture and Allied Sectors’, here on Friday.

Ramesh Chand said that it was found that in the cash transaction there was more scope for the middlemen and brokers to cheat farmers while buying their produce.

Despite government agencies functioning for procurement of the farm produce, in the rural areas the brokers and middlemen play dominant role in procurement, for one reason or the other, he said.

In this connection, the NITI Aayog member batted for promoting e-NAM (electronic National Agricultural Market), which is part of an effort by the Centre to popularise digitalisation for a transparent sale transaction and better price to ensure the farmers get more benefits and observed that AP’s performance with regard e-Nam is below expectation.

He urged the authorities to make special efforts through government market yard to promote e-NAM and also cashless transaction among farmers.

He was candid enough to say that the farmers should stop depending on minimum support price (MSP) for their produce, instead they should do their best in ensuring quality of their produce and also learn value addition to them which would assure them double the MSP being fixed by the government.

Here, the authorities of agriculture and allied sectors have a crucial role in motivating farmers to enhance the quality of their produce, making them competitive, which alone is the answer for the agriculture become profitable without depending on anyone, he observed.

Citing AP’s good record in milk production, Prof Ramesh Chand said the State had failed in marketing it at national-level to provide more income to the dairy farmers.

He also resented the agri and allied sector authorities seeking more and more support from NITI Aayog and was blunt in saying that “you never bothered to inform the achievement you made with the aid of Aayog in the area of agriculture research vis-à-vis the benefit to the farmers.”

He admitted that there was shortage of resources following demonetisation which the authorities should strive to overcome.

“You should welcome reforms. It is not desirable to criticise it even before testing it,” he said and added that the reforms in agriculture would be fruitful only if they benefit the farmers.

He patted the AP government and its Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for initiating reforms and assuring Rs 10,000 minimum income to every household.

State officials made a sector-wise power point presentation, including agriculture, veterinary, horticulture, dairy, fisheries and marketing.

Special Chief Secretary to the government Manmohan Singh, AP Dairy officials and others
were present.