Inter-state Trade of Farm Products on e-NAM Platform Gains Momentum

The Inter-state trade of farm products in wholesale markets or mandis through the eNAM platform is gathering momentum with the latest transaction taking place at Palanpur mandi in Gujarat that sold green gram to Sumerpur market of Rajasthan.

To recall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the pilot of electronic National Agriculture Market (eNAM) in April 2016 as part of the Centre’s objective to double farmers' income by 2022.  eNAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC wholesale markets to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. The platform helps growers get better market access, search more buyers for their produce and earn highincome. The lead agency for implementing eNAM under the aegis of the Union agriculture ministry is Small Farmers' Agri-business Consortium (SFAC).

Trade in 585 mandis is presently taking place on the electronic network that helps discover price in real time in a clear manner. The government intends to incorporate 200 mandis in 2019 and another 215 by 2020 with the e-NAM.

Previously, trade used to occur within the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandi or between two APMC mandis located in the same state.

But recently, the 1st inter-state transaction in tomatoes was held between a trader of Bareilly e-NAM APMC, Uttar Pradesh and a cultivator of Haldwani e-NAM APMC, Uttarakhand.

The very same day, another deal in potatoes was carried out between a trader from Rudrapur e-NAM APMC, Uttarakhand and a grower of Moradabad e-NAM APMC, UP. E-payments in both the cases have been made through e-NAM portal.

Furthermore, inter-state transactions took place between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The mandis that interacted were Kurnool mandi from Andhra Pradesh and Gadwal mandi from Telangana.

The latest development is from Gujarat’s Palanpur mandi that sold green gram to Rajasthan’s Sumerpur mandi, a senior agriculture ministry official told.

The official added that although the volumes of inter-state trade on e-NAM platform are low at present, the programme will prove to be a big leap in reforming the agriculture market in the country.

The ministry has incorporated 585 wholesale regulated markets or APMC in 16 states and two Union territories who have carried out necessary reforms in their state APMC. Presently, 7 states i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Uttarakhand are working on the modalities to establish inter-state trade.

Cultivators can easily access the information on e-NAM through their mobile phone from anyplace. This online trading platform aims to reduce transaction costs, bridge information irregularity and help in expanding the market access for farmers.

eNAM gives quick quality assaying solutions to endorse online trading. Logistics providers' information is also provided on e-NAM portal to outside traders which will facilitate transportation of commodities.

In order to promote inter-state trade among e-NAM states, the ministry is in the process of developing a separate dashboard. Discussions are going on between the ministry officials, SFAC and state governments regarding dispute settlement mechanism. At first, the dispute has to be settled by the mandi of origin where the e-trade is going to be executed.