Q. In India, markets in agricultural products are regulated under the

Answer: (b) Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act enacted by States

Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) are marketing boards set up by state governments to eliminate farmer exploitation by intermediaries, in which farmers are forced to sell their produce at extremely low prices.
Because agricultural marketing is a state subject, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a system that operates under the State Government.
The APMC has Yards/Mandis in the market area that regulate the notified agricultural produce and livestock.
The goal of implementing APMC was to reduce the number of Distress Sales made by farmers who were being pressured and exploited by creditors and other intermediaries.
APMC ensures that farmers are paid fairly and on time for their produce.
APMC is also in charge of regulating agricultural trading practices. This has several advantages, including:
- Unnecessary intermediaries are eliminated.
- Reduced market charges improved market efficiency.
- The producer-seller relationship is well protected.

The APMC committee was established to protect farmers from creditors and other intermediaries.
These committees were also expected to ensure that the farm-to-retail price did not rise excessively and that farmers were paid on time via the APMC auctions.
Farmers were also required to use APMCs for storage, such as go-downs and the like.
Farmers were also supposed to be able to sell their produce directly to consumers through APMCs.
Price fluctuations were also managed with the help of APMCs.
Developing an efficient marketing system.
Agriculture processing and export promotion.
Develop procedures and systems for establishing an efficient infrastructure for agricultural produce marketing.

The National Agriculture Market (NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal that connects the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis across the country to form a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
The e-NAM portal is a one-stop shop for all APMC-related information and services, which includes:
- Commodity arrivals and prices.
- Trade offers for buying and selling.
- Provision for responding to trade offers, among other services.
Even when agricultural produce is still flowing through the mandis, the NAM reduces transaction costs and information irregularity.
The states can administer agriculture marketing according to their agri-marketing regulations, which divide the state into various market areas, each of which is administered by a separate APMC, which imposes its own marketing regulations, including fees.

The ECA Act 1955 was legislated at a time when the country was facing a scarcity of foodstuffs due to persistent low levels of foodgrains production.
The country was dependent on imports and assistance (such as wheat import from the US under PL-480) to feed the population.
To prevent hoarding and black marketing of foodstuffs, the Essential Commodities Act was enacted in 1955.
Implementing Agency:
- The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, implements the Act.
Essential Commodity:
- There is no specific definition of essential commodities in the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
- Section 2(A) of the Act states that an “essential commodity” means a commodity specified in the Schedule of the Act.
Legal Jurisdiction:
- The Act gives powers to the central government to add or remove a commodity in the Schedule.
- The Centre, if it is satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the public interest, can notify an item as essential, in consultation with state governments.
Objective:
- The ECA 1955 is used to curb inflation by allowing the Centre to enable control by state governments of trade in a wide variety of commodities.
Impact:
- By declaring a commodity as essential, the government can control the production, supply, and distribution of that commodity, and impose a stock limit.