Karnataka Plans to Expand e-Market for Farmers’ Produce

A senior official in Karnataka said on Wednesday that the state is thinking about expanding its pioneering Rashtriya e-Market Services (ReMS) platform to sell agriculture and horticultural goods from Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs). 

The ReMS electronic trading platform will link markets with FPOs, enabling farmers' commodities to sell in mass. 

"As a pilot sale, 37 lots of 4,661 quintals of a total transaction value of Rs 1.41 crore of FPOs were traded on the platform," ReMS managing director Manoj Rajan said, noting that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai will convene a meeting shortly to explore the platform's expansion to encompass additional FPOs. 

Karnataka has 700 FPOs, with 350-400 shareholders on average. 

Vandita Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Development Commissioner at NABARD's State Credit Seminar, stated that FPOs assist enhance agricultural revenue in the long term. "There were 4,661 quintals on the pilot." This isn't good enough. The sale of FPO commodities should be brought on the ReMS platform. "This will make it easier for farmers to do business," she said. 

According to Sharma, Karnataka was the first state to begin auctions in APMCs utilizing the ReMS. "The National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) followed later," she explained. FPO products like groundnut, maize, paddy, tur, ragi, jaggery, Bengal gram, green gram, and soybean would find a market through ReMS, according to Rajan. 

"The electronic trading platform offers clear, secure, and complete trading tools for FPOs to undertake online trading," he said. "FPOs update details of available lots for sale, and purchasers engage remotely by submitting bids." The platform provides online settlement and payments to FPO/farmer bank accounts." 

The platform has 44,000 traders enrolled across 160 marketplaces in the state. "These traders have accessibility to these FPOs, allowing them to earn fair returns on their agricultural produce through a fair price discovery mechanism," Rajan explained.