DEPARTMENT, AT A GLANCE
vOrganisation
Structure
(a)
Government Service Total
Number
(S.E, Addl. DsM, J.DsM, D.DsM,
ADsM, E.E, D.E.Es & other Staff 526
(b)
Agri.Market Committee Service
(Selection, Special Grades, Grade-I, II, 4645
III & Asst. Secretaries & other Staff
(C)
Central Market Fund Service
(E.Es, D.DsM, D.Es, A.Ds.M 493
& other Staff
1. INTRODUCTION: 2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE A.P. MARKETS ACT : Legislation
on agricultural marketing has come into the State on the recommendations of the Royal Commission on
Agriculture of 1928. The Nizam
Government enacted the Hyderabad Agricultural Produce and Livestock Markets Act
in 1930 and was enforce in Telangana area of the State. The Madras Commercial Crops Act of 1933 was
inforce in other parts of the State.
These two market legislations were inforce till 1966. A comprehensive Markets Act has come into force from 18-11-1966 in the State of
Andhra Pradesh called the A.P. (Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets
Act, 1966. Markets Rules were framed
under this Act called the A.P. (Agricultural Produce and Livestock) Markets
Rules, 1969 with Bye-laws for each Market Committee in the State. The objective of the Markets Act is to
protect the interests of farmers in the sale of agricultural produce and to
ensure remunerative price to them and to protect them from the clutches of
unscrupulous traders. 3. SALIENT
FEATURES OF THE A.P. MARKETS ACT : ·
Declaration
of notified area to regulate the sale and purchase of agricultural produce and
livestock and its products (
Section 3 of the Act. ). ·
Constitution
of Market Committees to each notified area.
Each Market Committee consists
of 14 members headed by a 7Chairman.
All the members are nominated by the Government. The term of Market Committee is 3
years. The objectives of the Committee
is to enforce the provisions of the Markets Act, Markets Rules and the Bye-laws
and manage the markets in regulating the trade of notified agricultural
produce. ( Sections 4,5 and 6 of the Act ). ·
Market
Committees are empowered to issue licences to persons trading in the notified
agricultural commodities and the licensed traders shall make their transactions
in the markets / market yards only ( Section 7 of the Act ). ·
Market
Committees are empowered to levy market fees at the rate of 1% advolerum from
the purchasers of agricultural commodities.
Markets Fee is the major source of income to the Market Committees
besides licence fees. The income is
self-generating to market committees.
All the market fees and other income are called Market Committee
fund. It is spent for development and
maintenance of markets in the State and other ancillary activities related to
agricultural production and farming community ( Section 12,14 and 15 of the
Act. ) ·
Each
Market Committee contributes 10% of its annual income to a Fund called Central
Market Fund. This fund is utilised for
grant of loans and grant-in-aid and other purposes of the Market Committees
(Section 16 of the Act.). ·
No trade
allowance is permitted in the sale and purchase of agricultural produce except
prescribed in the Rules and Bye-laws. ( Section 17 and 17-A of the Act. ) ·
Markets
Act provides powers for search and seizure of the books of accounts etc. of the
licensed traders (Section 17-C of the Act). ·
There
is a mandatory punishment of not less than six months of imprisonment which may
extend upto one year and with a fine upto Rs. 5,000/- and both for violation of
the provisions of the Markets Act. ( Section 23 of the Act. ) 4. AGRICULTURAL MARKET COMMITTEES (
AMCS ): Year Amount
collected (Rs. in crores) 1999-2000 163.34 2000-2001 207.00 2001-2002 168.30 2002-2003 202.98 2003-2004 196.76 Year Amount
Spent (Rs.
in Crores) 1999-2000
57.47 2000-2001
51.37 2001-2002
40.91 2002-2003
34.47 2003-2004 133.86
2004-2005 81.00 (Sanctioned) 5.` OTHER SCHEMES IMPLEMENTED BY AGRICULTURE
MARKET COMMITTEES: a)
Rythu Bandhu Pathakam ( Pledge Loan Scheme ) To prevent farmers from resorting to distress sales,
Rythu Bandhu Pathakam has been introduced in the Agril. Market Committee to
provide finance to the farmers against pledge of their produce. Features: ·
There is no budgetory
restriction for giving advances under Rythu Bandhu Pathakam. ·
The Advances are
limited to 75 % of the value of goods pledged subject to a ceiling of
Rs.50.000/- per farmer. ·
Every farmer shall be eligible
for the Pledge Loan subject to a maximum of Rs.50,000/- or 75% of the value of
the produce pledged whichever is less. ·
Interest will not be
charged on the loans sanctioned under Rythu Bandhu Pathakam for the first 90
days. ·
From 91st
day onwards, simple interest is to be charged on the loans. ·
Pledge loan is
sanctioned to farmers who store their produce in the Godowns of State/Central
Warehousing Corporation where Agrl., Market Committees do not have their own
godowns or due to non availability of space in their godowns. The Warehousing
Corporations concerned shall have to give an undertaking to the Agricultural
Market Committee that they will not allow the farmers to remove or sell the
stocks without the specific and prior approval of the concerned Agricultural
Market Committee. Details of loans
given are:- Year Amount
of loan given No. of Farmers (Rs. in Crores) Benefited 1999-2000 14.91 5521 2000-2001 17.01 5640 2001-2002 35.19 9401
2002-2003 73.66
20414 2003-2004 54.00 22534 b) Sale
of Inputs: To
make available the quality seeds,
pesticides and fertilizers to the farmers in the Market Yards, the Agricultural
Market Committees have been permitted to take up the sale of quality seeds, pesticides
and fertilisers on no-loss-no profit basis.
The details of performance of the scheme are :- Year Sales
No. of farmers (Rs.
in Crores) Benefited 1999-2000 33.06 289951 2000-2001 17.05 142482 2001-2002 14.02 181158 2002-2003 16.72 143822 2003-2004 22.10 344288 c) Cold
Storage Units : A.P. Capital Intensive Subsidy
Scheme for Cold Storages has come into force from 1-7-1999 and was in operation
for a period of 2 years i.e., upto March 2001.
Subsidy was given to the private entrepreneurs to the extent of 25% of
the fixed capital investment subject to a maximum of Rs.50 lakhs per unit of
the cold storage set up by them. Under
the scheme applications were received from 70 Cold Storage Units. The State Level Committee after thorough
scrutiny has sanctioned subsidy to 39 units.
By construction of 39 cold storage units under the scheme, an additional
cold storage capacity of 1,79,390 MTs. was created in the private sector of the
State. A total amount of Rs.12.80
crores was spent as subsidy. The
details of the units are :- Sl.No Name of the District No. of Cold Storages Capacity Created Amount released Rs. in M.Ts In Lakhs 1 Vizianagaram 1 10,000 50.00 2 Visakhapatnam 4 23,000 137.93 3 East
Godavari 3 12,100 62.07 4 West
Godavari 2 7,450 49.70 5 Krishna 4 20,400 178.32 6 Guntur 10 40,200 300.47 7 Prakasam 2 7,000 64.44 8 Nellore 1 3,200 32.00 9 Ranga
Reddy 4 21,500 157.57 10 Nizamabad 1 6,400 32.21 11 Warangal 4 14,400 103.26 12 Khammam 3 13,740 111.90 Total: 39 179,390 1279.87 Government have sanctioned 55 Soil Testing Laboratories in the Market Yards
in the State in the Revenue Division Headquarters at a cost of Rs.6.21
Crores. Out of 55 Soil Testing
Laboratories, 52 are functioning in various Agrl. Market Committees with the
staff of Agriculture Department and 3 in the premises of Agriculture Department. The respective Agricultural Market
Committees are meeting the cost of the chemicals etc., to test the soil
samples. f) DAATT
Centers(22) One DAATT (District Agricultural Advisory
and Transfer of Technology) Center is established at District Head Quarters
market committee (except Hyderabad District) in collaboration with ANGRAU for
the benefit of farmers between 1995-96 and 2001-2002 . Necessary accomodation is provided by
Agricultural Market Committees to these centers for the scientists. g) Market Interventions : Though the Agricultural Market Committees cannot do market
interventions directly when there is a glut in the markets, the Department is
providing funds to agencies like A.P. MARKFED, A.P. OILFED, A.P. TOBBACCO
GROWERS UNION, District Collectors and so on for undertaking market
interventions to commodities like Maize, Chillies, Tobbacco, Tomatoes, Onions
etc., to protect the interest of farmers. h) Assistance
to other Departments for the benefit of the farmers: Government have provided AMC funds to several sister- departments to assist the farmers. The details are :- ·
PR
& R&B Departments were provided with Rs.200.00 crores for laying and
strengthening of rural link roads. ·
About
Rs.90.00 crores were given to water conservation programmes under Neeru–Meeru. ·
APCOB
was provided with Rs.207.00 crores towards
interest waiver of loans of the farmers. ·
Agriculture,
Animal Husbandry, Fisheries, Horticulture etc., Departments were provided with
about Rs. 200.00 crores for creation of infrastructure and subsidy for farmers. 6. TRAINING
PROGRAMMES : Training classes are organised to farmers at all Market Committees to
educate the farmers on the crops to be raised, application of manures and
pesticides, storage problems of food grains and other allied subjects with the
cooperation of other concerned Departments such as Agriculture Department/APAU/
Horticulture Department etc. So for, 6.50 lakhs of farmers have been trained.
The training is basically on agricultural operations in Kharif and Rabi
seasons. The number of programmes are 4 per year. These programmes are being
conducted every quarter to educate the farmers on crop pattern with the help of
Agriculture Department to impart training for 300 farmers at a time in the
jurisdiction of every Market Committee. Training to farmers at AMCs Year No. of farmers trained 1999-2000 2,48,363 2000-2001
2,65,114 2001-2002
2,65,000 2002-2003
1,23,950 2003-2004 8,9022 Each market committee is permitted
to spend Rs.95,000/- per year for conducting four training programmes i.e.,
pre-khariff, 1st interaction, pre-rabi and 2nd interaction. The total expenditure
for all these programmes is Rs.2.77 crores is met by the market
committees. This programme is organized
in collaboration with Agriculture Department As
a part of Human Resources Development, a Training Institute of the Department
is functioning at Hyderabad to meet the training needs of the staff and other
functionaries throughout the year. 7. COMPUTERISATION
OF AMCS : The
details of computerization programmes of the Department are : Ø
82 Market
Committees have been computerised in 1st phase by ECIL. Ø
54 more Market Yards were computerised by DMI, Govt.
of India in collaboration with NIC. Ø
The details of arrivals and prices of various
commodities are being reported to Head
Office through this network. Ø
The information received is being daily updated in
the departmental website “ http://market.ap.nic.in ” The site
also contains information pertaining to Department. Ø
50 major market yard are provided with Automatic
Audio Video Display Announcement System which displays the arrivals and prices
of commodities of different market yards. Ø
Other information benefiting the farmers such as
education, health, soil conditions, etc., is also displayed through the above
Announcement system. It is proposed to
computerise all the 299 Agricultural Market Committees in the State.
8. RYTHU
BAZARS: In order to serve the interests of
both producers and consumers, the Government have set-up Rythu Bazars through
the Department. The details are :- Objectives
Ø
To avoid middle men in the sale of Vegetables. Ø
107 Rythu Bazars with structures established spending
Rs.11.13 crores. Ø
Each Rythu Bazars has an Estate Officer,
Horticulturist with minimum staff. Ø
On an average 14000 Qtls. of vegetables costing
Rs.11.00 Crores are sold every day /
month. Ø
Mobile Rythu Bazars are also being introduced. Ø
Supply to Govt. Hostels in R.R. District and
Hyderabad. Ø
Expenditure on Rythu Bazars : Rs. 25.00 Crores Rythu Bazar Charter : 1. Providing common marketing place for
farmer and consumer. 2. Participatory marketing system by
farmer and Consumer 3. Ensuring fair price both for farmer
and consumer. 4. Elimination of middle men and
exploitation. 5. Provision of Market Information System. 6. Providing horticulture extension works 9. BUDGET
OF THE DEPARTMENT : There
are three Budget Estimates in the Department namely Government, Central Market
Fund (CMF) and Agricultural Market Committees.
The Government budget consists of expenditure on Govt. staff met from
the Consolidated Fund of the State. The
budget of the CMF service staff and expenditure is met from CMF approved by
Government. The budget of AMC staff and
other expenditure on markets is met from the funds of AMCs approved by the
Commissioner and Director of Marketing.
The details are :- ACTION PLAN: The Action Plan of Marketing
Department for future includes
strengthening of infrastructure in the market yards; modernization/
computerization of market yards; provision of digital weighing machines in all
major market yards; coverage of more villages under link roads scheme;
extension of Rythu Bandhu Scheme to cover small and marginal farmers; the
spread of Rythu Bazaar facilities; and creation of awareness of FAQ standards
among farmers; and formulation of a micro-level plan on area, production,
marketable surplus and value. FUTURE PLANS : 1.
Development and strengthening of market yards and to bring more market
yards under regulation. 2.
Daily collection and display of price data through web based technology. 3. Interactive Voice Response System
(IVRS) to provide data on Market Yard information to be developed with the help
of N.I.C. 4. Touch screen KIOSKs to be installed at
major market yards for dissemination of
information for the benefit of farmers. 5. To
develop infrastructure for prawns and fish Marketing 6.
To help export of fruits. 7.
To organize contract farming for developing medicinal plants, hybrid
vegetable etc.
A separate Department
of Marketing was established on
01-02-1962 in Andhra Pradesh bifurcating from the Agriculture Department
to enforce the provisions of the Agricultural Produce Markets Act and other
schemes of the Department . The
Commissioner Director of Marketing is the Head of the Department. It is under the administrative control of
the Agriculture and Cooperation Department.
Every district is headed by an Assistant Director of Marketing
functioning as a District Officer with regional Joint Directors and Deputy
Directors of Marketing in the State.
All the field Officers supervise and monitor the enforcement and
implementation of the provisions of the A.P. (Agril. Produce and Livestock)
Markets Act 1966 through the Agricultural Market Committees in the State and
other programmes of the Department.
d) State Grading Laboratories on Agmark
:-
The
Marketing Department has established grading laboratories in the State for undertaking grading in Agmark under the supervision
of a Chief Chemist at Guntur. The following places are having the laboratories:
e) Soil Testing Laboratories :
Govt.
Budget
(Rs.
In Lakhs)
CMF Budget
(Rs.
In Lakhs)
AMCs’ Budget
(Rs.
In Lakhs)