Why in the News?
The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has expanded the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) by including 9 additional commodities, raising the total tradable items on the platform to 247.
About National Agriculture Market (e-NAM):
- Launch: Introduced in April 2016 by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare under the Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Marketing (ISAM).
- Implementing Agency: Managed by the Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) under the Department of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
- Objective: To unify agricultural markets across India by offering farmers and traders a transparent, competitive, and quality-based digital trading platform for real-time price discovery and reduced intermediary dependence.
- Legal Framework: Operates within state Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Acts, harmonised through inter-state trading licences and digital linkage.
- Funding & Governance: Fully centrally funded, providing both digital infrastructure and physical market modernisation to APMCs.
- Working Mechanism:
- Digital APMC Integration: Each mandi connected to the e-NAM portal for online inter-state trading.
- Online Auctions: Produce graded, assayed, and weighed before real-time electronic bidding.
- Price Discovery & Payment: Transparent auction ensures quality-linked pricing; proceeds transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts.
- Unified Licensing: A single trading licence enables purchase from multiple mandis nationwide.
- Warehouse Trading (e-NAM 2.0): Incorporates warehouses and cold storages for sale of stored produce and extended logistics support.
- Coverage (2025):
- Mandis Integrated: 1,522 mandis across 23 States & 4 UTs.
- Commodities: 247 tradable items including cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, spices, and medicinal plants.
- Participants: Around 1.7 crore farmers and 4,500 FPOs registered.
- Leading States: Tamil Nadu (213 mandis), followed by Rajasthan and Gujarat.
- Data Analytics: Real-time insights on trade volume, prices, and demand trends aid policy decisions.
Key Features & Impact:
- Pan-India Integration: Realises “One Nation, One Market” by linking mandis and private markets.
- Quality Assurance: Standardised parameters framed by Directorate of Marketing & Inspection (DMI) ensure grade-based pricing.
- Digital Efficiency: Electronic weighing, e-payments, and cloud-based architecture cut transaction time from 8–10 hours to 30 minutes.
- FPO & Warehouse Linkages: Strengthen logistics, storage, and collective bargaining power.
- Scheme Synergy: Complements PM-KISAN, PM-AASHA, and MSP operations through traceable, transparent procurement data.
| [UPSC 2017] What is/are the advantage/advantages of implementing the `National Agriculture Market’ scheme?
1. It is a pan-India electronic trading portal for agricultural commodities. 2. It provides the farmers access to nationwide market, with prices commensurate with the quality of their produce. Select the correct answer using the code given below: Options: (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2* (d) Neither 1 nor 2 |
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