The regulations for the functioning of agriculture markets across Jammu and Kashmir were approved by the Administrative Council (AC) under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday. According to a statement by the official spokesperson, the J&K Agriculture Produce and Market Committee (APMC) Act, 1997 was repealed upon the implementation of the J&K State Reorganisation Act, 2019.
The conference was also attended by Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta and Lieutenant Governor Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar's advisor.
This board would oversee and control the established mandis in the Union Territory and eliminate the operational challenges brought on by the lack of a statutory mechanism as of now.
It would be presided over by the ACS, and APD, and include representatives of mandis and food associations in addition to other official members.
According to the new mechanism, any CA store, cold store, warehouse with a capacity of more than 3 tonnes, cooperatives, FPOs, SHGs, and store centers would be designated as sub-yards of mandis for the purposes of conducting business on e-Nam platforms and making electronic payments on the e-Nam portal.
The exclusive authority to grant unified licenses for conducting trade in any mandi in the UT would be the Director of Horticulture (Planning and Marketing), J&K.
It also features a clause that permits traders from outside of J&K to conduct business with the local producers and traders on the e-Nam.
For this reason, on the basis of common understanding with other states and union territories, the Director of Horticulture would further recognize the licenses issued by the external APMCs as legitimate permits for conducting business on the e-Nam site.
Meanwhile, the J&K Department of Horticulture Planning & Marketing conducted the first-ever Mega Buyer-Seller Meet in Kolkata on Sunday, in an effort to provide marketing opportunities and support the Prime Minister's goal of doubling farmers' incomes and improving the Agriculture and Horticulture sectors in the country.
About 250 farmers, SHGs, FPOs, and business owners from various regions of J&K attended the meeting and spoke with the visiting buyer delegations, which comprised large merchants, exporters, and massive businesses.
The buyers at the meet were enthusiastic about the business potential in Jammu and Kashmir as they toured several stalls. Many customers received product samples, and many of them placed orders there and then.
Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, the minister of agriculture in West Bengal attended the meeting. In a speech, he praised the UT government's efforts and said that more interstate trade would increase as a result of such events, and so will the industry knowledge that would be beneficial to both West Bengal and J&K.
