Agriculture Marketing In India

Background of Agricultural Marketing

Agriculture Marketing comes under the preview of the Agricultural Produce Markets (Regulation) Act during the sixties and seventies came into operation. All primary wholesale assembling markets were brought under the ambit of these Acts. Well laid out market yards and sub-market yards were constructed and for each market area, an Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) was constituted to enforce the rules and regulations on agricultural marketing. Thus, organized agricultural marketing came into existence through regulated markets. As of now, there are more than 6600 odd regulated wholesale markets in the country.

Need for Reforms in Agriculture Marketing

With the economic liberalization in the country during the nineties, the Government felt the need to reform the agricultural marketing sector also so as to ensure better and competitive price realization for the farmers and encourage capital formation in the sector. The initiative of the Ministry led to the appointment of an Expert Committee in 2000. Department in order to have a focussed approach on marketing reforms identiﬁed following areas of reforms –
Setting up of wholesale markets in private and co-operative sectors; Establishment of farmer-consumer markets; Contract Farming; Direct marketing; e-trading; Single point levy of market fee in the State/UT; Uniﬁed single trading license.
The Government of India has implemented the recommendations of the Committee by introducing a reform linked central sector scheme of “Promotion of e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) through Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF). e-NAM, was launched on 14th April 2016 by Hon’ble Prime Ministers as a pilot in 21 markets across 08 States. Presently under the scheme, 1000 markets of 18 States and 3 Union Territories were successfully integrated with e-NAM platform by 15th May 2020.

What is National Agriculture Market (e-NAM)?

National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading (e-trading) portal that seeks to network the existing physical APMCs through a virtual platform to create a uniﬁed national market for agricultural commodities. NAM is a “virtual” market but it has a physical market (mandi) at the back end. The NAM Portal provides a single window service for all APMC-related information and services. This includes commodity arrivals, quality &prices buy & sell offers, provision to respond to trade offers, and electronic payment settlement directly into farmers’ accounts, among other services. e-NAM is an online market that aims at reducing transaction costs, bridging information asymmetry, and helping in expanding market access for farmers.
The Small Farmers’ Agri-business Consortium (SFAC) is the nodal agency for implementing the eNAM scheme in the country under the aegis of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. For initial handholding, the Government of India through Strategic Partner is providing an IT expert (mandi analyst) to the mandis for initial support for a period of one year to each mandi integrated with e-NAM. Free access is given to e-NAM platform for e-NAM trade operations. In addition, free training is provided to stakeholders in e-NAM mandis i.e. farmers, FPOs, traders, commission agents & mandi oﬃcials, etc.

Objectives of e-NAM

The main objectives of the Scheme are

to promote better marketing opportunities for farmers/sellers through online access to more buyers/markets, removal of information asymmetry between farmer and trader, better and real-time price discovery based on actual demand and supply of agri- commodities, transparency in the auction process, prices commensurate with the quality of
produce, online payment, etc. that contribute to marketing eﬃciency;
to establish quality assaying systems for quality assurance to promote informed bidding
by buyers;
to streamline marketing/transaction procedures and make them uniform across all
markets to promote eﬃcient functioning of the markets;
to integrate markets ﬁrst at the level of the States and eventually across the country through a common online market platform, to facilitate pan- India trade in agricultural commodities;

Pre-requisite (Marketing Reforms Mandatory) for Joining e-NAM

For pursuing reforms in a focussed manner, out of various areas of reforms, the department identiﬁed 3 reforms and made them mandatory as pre-condition for the state to participate in e- NAM scheme. These areas of reform are summarised as given below:

To promote and permit e-trading;
Single point levy of the market fee;
Uniﬁed registration/ license for trade/ transaction in more than one market;

These three are mandatory reforms for e-NAM as pre-requisite for a state to become eligible for joining the e-NAM scheme.

e Nam Process Flow

S. No.	e-NAM State	Total No. of Mandis Integrated as on 31/03/2021
1	Andhra Pradesh	33
2	Chhattisgarh	14
3	Gujarat	122
4	Haryana	81
5	Himachal Pradesh	19
6	Jharkhand	19
7	Karnataka	2
8	Kerala	6
9	Madhya Pradesh	80
10	Maharashtra	118
11	Odisha	41
12	Punjab	37
13	Rajasthan	144
14	Tamil Nadu	63
15	Telangana	57
16	Uttar Pradesh	125
17	Uttarakhand	16
18	West Bengal	18
S. No.	Union Territories
19	Chandigarh	1
20	Jammu & Kashmir	2
21	Puducherry	2
	Total	1000

Features of e-NAM

Languages: e-NAM Website and portal is available in 12 languages i.e. English, Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Odiya, Dogri, Malayalam, and Kannada.
GPS-Based eNAM Mandi Locator: Farmers / Sellers can locate their nearby eNAM mandi using GPS based mandi locator feature through the mobile app. This development helps the user to easily locate and reach the selected mandi up to a radius
of 100 Kms and sell their agri-produce.
Auto Sale Agreement: Auto sale agreement feature has been added to reduce e-NAM
workﬂow execution time. This has reduced farmers’ transaction waiting time.
BHIM payment facility: Currently e-NAM portal facilitates direct online payment to farmers through Challan, RTGS / NEFT, Debit Card, and Internet Banking. Facilitation of Uniﬁed Payment Interface (UPI) through BHIM is another milestone in easing out the
payment to farmers which reduces the payment realization time to farmers.
Payment through mobile application: e-NAM mobile app facilitates direct online
payment to farmers through RTGS/NEFT, Debit Card, Challan, and Internet Banking.
e-Learning Module: e-Learning module of registration, e-NAM process, etc. is available on the e-NAM website for farmer’s stakeholders.
Toll-Free Call Centre No. of e-NAM Helpdesk: A toll-free number: 1800 270 0224 is also available for all users to raise any complaints or for getting information about e-NAM.

Modules of e-NAM

Integration of e-NWR based trade with eNAM: Under this module, WDRA accredited warehouse is listed as a “notiﬁed market area” or “deemed mandi” and electronic Warehouse Receipt (eNWR) are translated as a tradable lot on eNAM for e-auctioning. This would enable farmers to directly trade from the warehouse while maximizing their incentives.
FPO module and Farmgate Integration: FPO trading module has been developed enabling FPOs to trade from their collection centers. Similarly, the Farm-gate trading module provides real-time farm gate-level trading facilities to the farmers which enables them to upload lot-wise details of their products for trading purposes. Respective APMC is kept in the loop as regards to trade information gathering and mandi fee collection. Both of these modules have been developed keeping in mind to overcome farmgate losses and
to facilitate farmers by minimizing transportation & handling expenses.
Integration with AGMARKNET, KISAN RATH, KISAN SUVIDHA & UMANG PLATFORMS: Successful integration of e-NAM with e-portals like KISAN RATH, KISAN
SUVIDHA, AGMARKNET, and UMANG have been done and is fully functional.
Inclusion of Banking Partners on eNAM: Presently, two (2) banks are available (ICICI and Kotak Mahindra Bank) as settlement banks for e-NAM and further 4 more banks will be providing facilities in the payment system. Farmers would be able to receive
payments in real-time.
Part Payment Feature: Facility of part payment of the invoice by the farmer/trader giving him the option of Full payment. This is a choice-based module and would be applicable
as chosen.
Training & Capacity building: Training and awareness camps are being organized for Farmers, Traders, mandi functionaries, and other stakeholders in each e-NAM mandi. A dedicated farmer Registration desk is being set up in the mandis during the training and awareness camps to facilitate on-the-spot registration of farmers and traders on the e-NAM portal. Strategic Partner also conducts online training programs during Covid-19 for farmers & other stakeholders.

Mobile Application

A mobile app of e-NAM is available which can be downloaded from Google Play Store (play.google.com) and iOS. The mobile app has also been made multilingual and is available in 12 languages (Hindi, English, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Punjabi, Odiya, Dogri, Malayalam, and Kannada). Now the Mandi Operators can carry out one of the Critical operations of Gate Entry Directly from e-NAM Mobile App.
Facilities to Farmers on Mobile Application are
i. Multilingual (12 languages)
ii. Advance Lot Registration / Gate Entry
iii. Track Lot Progress
iv. Sampling and Assaying Facility
v. Online Payment Facility by Trader
vi. SMS Alert on ﬁnal bid price & Receipt of Payment

Beneﬁts to Farmers

Farmer can access the prevailing commodity prices & arrival of the last 3 days’ information on the eNAM mobile app. prior to even going to the mandi.
A farmer may see the live online bid value of their products through mobile.
The details of the ﬁnal bid rate of commodity of the farmer are received through SMS by
Farmer.
An online payment gateway is available for the transfer of bid value directly to bank accounts
of the farmers.
The facility of pre-registration of a lot is available through a mobile app., to facilitate quick gate
entry of the lot, during peak season.
Farmers may sell their products in more than one market.
e-NAM facilitates direct trade between buyers/ traders and farmers across the country.
Prices are based on quality-assayed parameters.

All India performance of eNAM at a glance (till 31st March 2021)

a) Stakeholders Registration
No. of farmers Registered on e-NAM : 1.70 Crore

No. of traders Registered: 1.64 Lakh
No. of Commission Agents Registered: 90,980

b) Trade Recorded
Total Trade recorded: 4.31 Crore MT
Trade Value recorded : Rs.1,30,753 Crore
Tradable commodities notiﬁed: 175 commodities