Report paints dismal picture; says most APMC not functional

[caption id="attachment_263068" align="alignnone" width="550"] Women sells vegetable on a wayside market located at Alayong on NH-702 (Longleng-Changtongya road). (EM Images)[/caption] Eastern Mirror Desk Dimapur, July 29: The Directorate of Evaluation's study on ‘marketing facilities for agriculture and allied products in Nagaland’ found that bottlenecks for the growth and development of agricultural marketing system in the state are lack of marketing infrastructure for agricultural and allied products, presence of subsistence farming, reliance on traditional method of seed-use, non-availability of financial assistance, and inadequate transportation facility. In order to facilitate agricultural marketing system, Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) was constituted throughout the state as per Nagaland Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act 2005. According to the report, there are 19 APMC in the state. Dimapur In Dimapur district, there are two APMC: Niuland APMC and Dimapur APMC. It was found that some of the Village Marketing Committees (VMC) under Niuland APMC were functioning while most of the villagers were unaware of the existence of APMC. Though VMCs were formed in some villages earlier, it has become non-operational due to lack of coordination between the APMC and the VMCs, the report stated. Kohima In Kohima district, there are two APMC: Kohima APMC covering Kohima sadar and Chiephobozou area, and Tseminyu APMC covering the entire area under Tseminyu subdivision. The report mentioned that the Kohima APMC was functioning but passively, while the Tseminyu APMC was ‘de-functioned.’ Farmers from Sendenyu village and Old Tesophenyu village under Tseminyu subdivision sell their agricultural produce at Lower Chandmari Wednesday bazaar in Kohima town once a week. They sell the produce in an open space, as there is no marketing shed. Kiphire As per the report, the APMC in Kiphire was constituted in 2008-09. However, it has not done any activity for the development of agricultural marketing in the district. It was found that in every village, VMC was constituted but were non-functional. Most of the farmers sell their produce to the consumers directly. It was found that there was complete absence of marketing linkages between the farmers and the buyers. Longleng According to the department: "As reported by the chairman of APMC, on the day of the survey, the office has not received any furniture, stationeries and house rent from the government. The six administrative headquarters act as zonal APMC intermediaries between the VMCs and APMC. It is regretted to note that the APMC Longleng is on the verge of total defunct and there is no likelihood to regain farmers' trust unless the APMC is revitalised through proper and timely funding.” There are 208 VMC members, out of which 30.42% are women. Besides APMC at Longleng HQ, APMC sub-committee were constituted in the remaining five zones comprising VMC members. Longleng headquarters is the only potential place where the farmers of nearby villages under three RD blocks sell their produce. Proper marketing place with infrastructure is yet to come up in Longleng town. As such, the vendors sell their commodities by the roadside. Another potential wayside market is located at Alayong on NH-702 (Longleng-Changtongya road). Around 10 vendors sell their agriculture produce in the open space as the marketing shed constructed by RD department under MGNERGA can hardly accommodate two vendors. It reported that during peak season of agricultural harvest, traders from Assam bring garments and other essential commodities to the villages for business transaction and they sell the goods to the farmers; and the benefit of business transaction is skewed towards the traders. Mokokchung The district has three APMC: Mokokchung APMC, Tuli APMC and Mangkolemba APMC. The Mokokchung APMC was constructed on lease for 50 years with infrastructures like building, godown, drying yard, auction platform, weight bridge, ticker board, rice mill, drying machine, chipping machine and a 50 metric ton cold storage. However, almost all the available infrastructure is lying unused. There are four registered traders under the Mokokchung APMC but all of them have stopped transaction. Tuli APMC has no infrastructure for marketing of agriculture produce except for office space, even though it has the most potential for marketing of agriculture produce since it is in close proximity to the state of Assam. Mangkolemba APMC has no infrastructure for facilitating agricultural marketing. Mon Mon APMC covers the entire district for regulation and development of agricultural and allied marketing but it has failed to execute its assigned duties, it reported. Transportation, the report stated, was one of the greatest problems for the farmers. They are unable to transport their produce to the market due to poor road connectivity. Peren The Tenning APMC is defunct due to lack of management by the authority. There were no marketing sheds in most villages, which hamper the progress of rural economy. Phek In Phek district, the Phek APMC and Pfutsero APMC were not executing their assigned role. The chairmen of both the APMC, according to the report, expressed regret that no fund has been allocated for many years. In some villages, VMCs were formed ten years ago but was defunct due to lack of financial allocation from the government. Tuensang The office of the Tuensang APMC, located 10 km away from the main town, was found functioning at minimal operational capacity. Lack of government support, weak institutional set up and no proper road connectivity between the villages and the marketing towns were responsible for non-performance of the APMC. The farmers could not dispose the surplus produce due to absence of market. Wokha The APMC in Wokha district: Wokha and Baghty have reported, at the time of survey, that they have not received honorarium for the staff for 18 months; and no VMC at the village level was constituted. APMC Baghty has initiated a weekly market at Baghty town but nearly 80% of the goods as well as traders are from Assam. Zunheboto The Zunheboto APMC and Ghathashe APMC were found to be defunct. Farmers were also not aware of the existence of APMC and VMC.