Introduction :-

In total, infrastructure in around 22,000 rural haats is to be upgraded and modernised with a corpus of almost Rs 20 billion spread over 2-3 years. Of this in the first phase, Centre has identified around 1,878 rural haats, which includes, the maximum around 564 haats in Andhra Pradesh, followed by 188 in Gujarat, 186 in Rajasthan, 182 in Tamil Nadu and 176 in Telangana.

The Centre has identified 1,878 rural haats for modernisation and development of infrastructure through MGNREGA till March 2019 under Gramin Agriculture Markets (GrAM) programme in the first phase.

Rural Haats Existing in the Country :-

• Ownership: These are owned by Local Bodies (Panchayats/councils), Agricultural/ Horticultural Departments of State Governments, Cooperatives, Marketing Boards/APMCs and Private Sector.
• Quantity: As per information provided by State Agricultural Marketing Boards/State Governments, there are 22941 Rural Haats
• Under local Bodies including Councils- 11811
• Under Marketing Board/APMCs- 1274
• Under Private sector (Trust, individuals, etc.)- 9856
• However, State Marketing Boards provided only numbers without other information like location, etc on village haats under local bodies and under private sector.

Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs)-Budget 2018-19 Announcement :-

• Develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs).
• Physical infrastructure to be strengthened using MGNREGS and other Government Schemes.
• PMGSY (Phase-III) to be used for strengthening road linkages from habitations to GrAMs.
• Setting up of Agri–Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs. 2000 crore to
• Develop and upgrade agricultural marketing infrastructure in 22,000 GrAMs
• Strengthening 585 APMC market
• GrAMs to be linked to e-NAM.
• GrAMs to be outside the APMC Act regulation

Functioning of Rural Markets :-

• The rural markets which are multi commodity in nature are first contact point of market where farmer –producers sell their surplus to local consumers.
• In some of these markets livestock is also assembled for sale in bigger markets. Also non farm products for daily needs are sold.
• In Rural Markets, trade is characterized by direct sales of small quantities of produce by producers to village traders and by retail sales to rural consumers.
• Besides goods, that are not produced locally, are brought by smaller; occasional traders to retail to local population.

Why Upgrade Rural Markets into GrAMs?

• As per the recommendations of Ashok Dalwai Report on doubling farmers’ income, the rural periodic markets need to be upgraded into a function that enables aggregation and transportation from village level to wholesale market.
• It has been advised to build on the available infrastructure to establish large number of primary rural agricultural markets to provide the following two services: Direct marketing between producers and consumers ,Aggregation platforms for the small lots of farmers
• These markets, through their interconnections, are a farmer’s main connection point with the inter and intra regional marketing system. Under GrAMs, infrastructure and business linkages with markets will get a boost. This will also ensure participation of small and marginal farmers to markets especially eNAM.
• Lower Prices: The ruling prices in these primary markets are invariably much lower. Price variations are attributed to lack of infrastructure such as storage, transport, etc.
• Due to lack of infrastructure, many times the farmer is forced to sell at harvest time, at low prices, only to buy back in off season at higher prices.
• There is an increasing awareness amongst the rural population about advantages of selling their produce at market points to secure competitive prices.
• Rising Production: Awareness, coupled with increase in Agricultural & Horticultural production, will generate larger arrivals in Rural Markets. Handling of larger turnovers will necessitate providing appropriate infrastructure facilities at these markets.

Issues in developing GrAMs:

• Parallel Acts: The issue in developing Rural periodic markets are the parallel acts i.e. which administer the ownership and operation of these markets. For example- multiplicity of regulatory Acts- Agricultural Produce market act 1972, Panchayat Act and Municipal Act etc. acting in parallel has resulted in absence of unidirectional development.
• Role of Private sector: The upgradation of rural markets will require greater role of public and private sector in providing enabling environment for growth, enhancing market facilities and market information. A PPP model for developing these markets needs to be developed.
• Capacity building and awareness creation: Capacity building and awareness building of farmers and traders about marketing is required to be in place. Empowering farmers with information, services and linkages through training will help in bringing the desired change in rural markets faster.