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and minimize storage losses in food grains and other Conclusion
agricultural commodities.
The country has largely gained self-sufficiency in food
Y Short duration training programme should be organized productions. However, the marketing systems and post-
by govt of India on all aspects of scientific storage of harvest marketing infrastructure have not been able to
food grains with the help of State and Central keep pace with the growing production and marketable
Government Agriculture Departments, Banks, surplus. There by Losses in agricultural produce after
Agriculture Universities, at village/Panchayat/Block level harvest occur at different stages of supply chain right from
point of harvesting to the point of consumption so Creation
and financial help available from different financial
of agricultural marketing infrastructure in the country is
institution for AMI.
the need of hour Hence provision of adequate
Y Encourage value chain financing there by Incentives to infrastructure, including warehouse, Rural godown cold
aggregators at village level because sometimes Small chain logistics at village level are needed, to enable the
and marginal farmers are not able to bring their farmers to realize better prices for their farm produce
produce to the nearby warehouses due to lack of and also to provide nutritious food to consumers at
transportation facilities. In such cases, the services of affordable prices. And appropriate grading, quality
aggregators (cooperative farmers group, self help assessment and certification will also encourage formal
financial institutions to lend against stored goods as they
group, farmers/producers companies) may be used.
would understand the shelf-life of the commodity. Grading
Y Encourage Viability gap funding for creation of efficient can help in developing customized financing products.
warehouse on Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) mode.
The Central and State Agencies like FCI, CWC, and SWCs References
etc. may take the lead in inviting private entrepreneurs 1. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
for the construction of warehouses. 2. Warehouse Regulatory Development Authority. T

Contactless card transaction limit hiked to Rs. 5000
Reserve Bank of India has increased the limit for contactless card transactions from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000, effective
from January 1 next year. The same has been done for e-mandates for recurring transactions through cards and the
Unified Payment Interface (UPI).
According to the RBI, "Contactless card transactions and e-mandates on cards (and UPI) for recurring transactions
have enhanced customer convenience, in general, while benefitting from increased use of technology. These are also
well-suited to make payments in a safe and secure manner, especially during the pandemic". Contactless card payments
are done without punching in the PIN, which makes it a safe mode of transaction in the current circumstances.
T R Ramachandran, group country manager, India & South Asia, Visa, said: "As evident in recent months, there is
strong consumer preference for digital payments and the new enhanced limits for e-mandates and contactless cards
will help transition millions of Indian consumers from cash to fast, convenient, and secure forms of digital payments".
Experts said it is a step in the right direction by the RBI and people have been asking it to enhance the limit. There
should be an increase in the number of such transactions after the latest move, they said. The RBI has said the limit
can be further enhanced at the discretion of the customer.
Mihir Gandhi, Partner & Leader - Payments Transformation, PwC, said: "Now people do not want to enter their PIN.
So, by increasing the limit, almost 70-80 per cent of the transactions will get covered at a point of sale terminal".
"Card companies will have to ensure that all their cards are enabled with contactless NFC technology… Much of the
cash transactions will now move to card transactions," he added.
Dilip Asbe, MD & CEO of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) the increased limit would also help to
boost the average value of transactions and push the adoption of digital payments. He said UPI's AutoPay feature
should also get a boost as a result of this.

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