Section 3. Amendment of Act 10 of 1955

3. Amendment of Act 10 of 1955. —In section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, sub-section (1A) shall be omitted. STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS Agriculture marketing plays an important role in providing necessary services to producers and buyers. Majority of the farmers in India are small and marginal farmers with less than two hectares of land. The Government has been making several interventions to support farmers, including small and marginal farmers by providing quality seeds, credit, insurance, procurement and market support and the like. 3. To enable the farmers to sell their produce at higher prices and benefit from technological improvements, farmers have been provided access to agriculture markets which will help them increase their income. With this objective three Farm Laws, namely, (i) the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 (20 of 2020); (ii) the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 (21 of 2020); and (iii) the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 (22 of 2020), were enacted, as a part of the Government's endeavour to improve the condition of farmers including small and marginal farmers. These enactments— (a) provided freedom to the farmers to sell their produce to any buyer at any place of their choice to realise remunerative prices; (b) created an ecosystem wherein processor, bulk buyers, organised retailers and exporters and the like can directly engage with the farmers; (c) created a facilitative framework for electronic trading to improve transparency and price discovery; and (d) provided a legal framework for farming contracts to protect the interest of the farmers, economically empower them and assure the price for their produce in advance. For years, this demand was constantly made by farmers, agricultural experts, agricultural economists and farmer organisations across the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, reform measures have been undertaken in many sectors of the economy, including agriculture and allied sectors.