"Initiatives like farmer corporatisation, supermarket networks and web agri-information system and a 5,000 acre Onion Corporation, have begun at an informal level and are now proposed to be channelised through the TFA." Mr Joshi said.

The first major agri-land corporatisation, would be launched soon in Vidharba and Saurashtra for growing onions and soyabean. "Around 5000-6000 hectares of land has been identified for the Onion Corporation. Different varieties will be earmarked for exports and imports, to prevent fall in prices in one market from affecting profits of the Corporation," he said.

Land handed over to the Corporation should be converted into equity and shares, given to the farmers in proportion to their contribution, he said adding, "the advantage of this strategy is that while the dividend would get divided, there would not be fragmentation of land holdings".

Citing instances, he said that such experiments were highly successful in Shetkari Solvent Unit near Wardha where farmers were given shares in proportion to soyabean given by them for extraction. Corporatisation would help in consolidation of all activities for the commodity, from application of technology, to production processing and distributon, Mr Joshi said. "While the Onion Corporation would be extended to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the concept would soon be extended to other commodities," he said.

Mr Joshi said corporatisation was a much better alternative to cooperatives which had got politicised.

The Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) had failed on all fronts, including providing storage space, grading and testing facilities and payments to farmers, he said adding that there was a plan to set up country-wide supermarket network.

Mr Joshi said, "The supermarkets would be double-edged, allowing interface between farmers and transporters on one hand, and transporters and retailers on the other. Shivar Company is preparing one such supermarket for Nagpur, Wardha and Yeotmal districts," he said.

TFA is also considering setting up a matrix of websites to facilitate dissemination of agricultural information.

Mr Joshi said TFA believed in "free agriculture in a free economy" and its mandate was very wide, and not restricted to the impact of WTO negotiations alone.

He said there was no basis in arguments, that removal of quantitative restrictions would result in an immediate surge of imported food products.Mr Joshi said if anything WTO negotiations had highlighted that India had a negative subsidy, which in 1996-97 stood at Rs 1,13,000 crore for 17 commodities, against positive subsidies worth Rs 14,000 crore for inputs like seeds and electricity, giving a tremendous bargaining power.