Around the middle of September last year, Sushil Hanote, a young farmer from Mali Silpati village in Betul district of Madhya Pradesh, was unsure how the farm laws, which had just been passed, would benefit him or fetch him a better price than the licensed mandis.

       On a telephone call, Hanote did, however, say he would prefer his paddy crop to be collected directly from his field because the traders in Betul mandi paid him only after deducting their share of taxes. That is why over the past few years, Hanote has been associated with a local Farmers-Producer Company (FPC) and has ...