With more states opening up or facilitating trade of agricultural commodities on digital wholesale agri-marketing platform – electronic – National Agriculture Market (eNAM), spurt in trading among various markets within the state as well as at the inter-state level is being witnesssed.
In the April-October period of the current fiscal, there has been a 260% annual spike in inter-mandi trade on e-NAM to Rs 785 crore. In terms of inter-state trade, which was not happening a year ago, there has been an increase since the beginning of the year.
An agriculture ministry official said while the volume of inter-mandi trade is still a small portion of total turnover of e-NAM at Rs 37,000 crore in April-October (2023-24), it indicates a gradual shift to the digital platform, being used for better price discovery by the farmers.
On Saturday the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) purchased onion from farmers in Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh using e-NAM platform for the first time. Similarly turmeric was sold for the first time at Nizamabad mandi, Telangana using the online platform to an institutional buyer in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
An official told FE that following the request from the power ministry requesting biomass derived from paddy stubble/ crop residue to be traded on the pan India digital platform, the item has been added to the list of trade commodities on the e-NAM. The trial trade of ‘raw biomass (agro-residue)’ was carried out using e-NAM in the Ambala Mandi.
While stating that the e-NAM is the only digital platform with no user charges are being levied on the transaction, the agriculture ministry has urged all the central agencies such as Food Corporation of India, farmers’ cooperative NAFED and others engaged in procurement and selling of grain, pulses and other agricultural produce to use the platform for better price discovery.
Since the beginning of the current fiscal, the inter-state trade using e-NAM platform on commodities with farmers from Uttar Pradesh, Kashmir, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Telangana selling commodities such as potato, apples, saffron, turmeric, mustard, ragi, silk cocoon, chana, soyabean and jeera, to buyers in Kerala, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, sources said.
Uttar Pradesh has allowed traders from outside the state to buy potatoes, tomato, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, mango, green chillies, carrot and lady finger from farmers using e-NAM platform.
Traders from outside Tamil Nadu, who have unified licences now, procure and trade copra, groundnut, turmeric, cotton, maize, paddy, bajra and moth using e-NAM platform.
The e-NAM platform currently allows online trading in 209 agricultural, horticultural and other commodities notified by respective state governments.
At present, 1,361 mandis in 27 states and Union Territories are integrated with the e-NAM platform. Also, 17.64 million farmers, 3284 FPOs, 0.24 million traders and around 0.11 million commission agents are registered with e-NAM.
Currently, 27 states and union territories including Tamil Nadu (157), Rajasthan (145), Gujarat (144), Maharashtra (133), Uttar Pradesh (125) and Haryana (108) mandis are on e-NAM platform which was launched in April 2016.
Sources said there are estimated to be around 7000 mandis in the country and after the recommendation from mandi boards of respective states, the marketplace for agricultural produce come on board of e-NAM.