The Government has taken a number of steps to reduce the distribution logistic cost in farming. The Government has implemented the policy for reimbursement of freight subsidy for distribution of subsidized fertilizers through coastal shipping or/and inland waterways.
In order to make timely availability of certified/quality seeds at affordable price to the farmers of hilly/remote areas of North-Eastern States including Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and hilly areas of West Bengal, Transport Subsidy on Movement of Seeds is provided under Sub-Mission on Seeds & Planting Material (SMSP).
As per Union Budget Announcement, 2018-19, Government has announced for development and upgradation of existing rural haats into Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). This will provide farmers facility to make direct sale to consumers and bulk purchasers which will reduce the logistic cost.
The Government is providing support to farmers for development of agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country through the scheme of “Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI)”, which is a sub-scheme of Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM). Under AMI Scheme, Refrigerated Van as a transport vehicle is eligible for subsidy assistance for Integrated Value Chain (IVC) projects.
Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) provides assistance for development of post harvest management and marketing infrastructure such as cold storage facilities, ripening chamber, pack houses, reefer vehicles to farmers to improve marketability of their produce.
Further, in order to develop the infrastructure in farming sector including that of distribution logistics, the Government is implementing Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) Scheme.
Government has introduced National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) scheme wherein trading of agriculture and horticulture commodities is carried out by transparent price discovery method for produce of farmers through competitive online bidding system. A logistic module has been provided on e-NAM platform to provide efficient logistic facility for inter-mandi and inter-state trade on e-NAM platform.
The Government has formulated and released model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Contract Farming & Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018 which will facilitate reduction in supply chain for optimizing logistics.
This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Shri Narendra Singh Tomar in Rajya Sabha today.