As the Centre is set to widen the scope of its online trading platform e-NAM, where 41 other entities, including 9 trading platforms, will offer their services, electronic trading is likely to get a major boost. However, the success of the new platform hinges on reduced dependency on agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) yards by making it available for farmers outside mandis.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar will launch the “Platform of Platforms (PoPs) under e-NAM” during the national conference of State Agriculture and Horticulture Ministers scheduled for July 14-15 in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The new initiative will also offer transportation, warehousing, quality assaying, storage, fintech, sorting and grading. and agri-advisory services.

Exceeding State boundaries

The Centre was working on this initiative over the past year for widening the participation of all the stakeholders as this is considered to bring in the next level of revolution in agri-produce marketing. “PoPs will facilitate the farmers to sell their produce beyond their State boundaries. This will enhance farmers’ accessibility digitally to multiple numbers of markets, buyers, and service providers, and to bring transparency in trade transactions with the intent to improve price discovery mechanism for better price realization of farm produce,” the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

This may help remove one of the major bottlenecks in online trading – the quality guarantee of the crops – as assaying and certification agencies have also been empanelled. As many as eight companies have agreed to offer their assaying services through the POPs so that a trader sitting at a distance can be assured of the quality when purchasing through the portal, sources said.

Better potential

“While e-NAM is currently restricted to 1,000 mandis, owned by Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), the coming together of these private sector online portals will definitely take trading out of APMC mandis’ boundary. But, the Centre has to make it effective together with State governments as trading volume of these private platforms were also not that big, whereas the potential is better after they join the government initiative,” said a former senior official of the agriculture ministry.

After the farm laws, which were repealed in November last year, were introduced by the Centre, several States such as Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have allowed traders to purchase directly from farmers outside mandis through unified licence, though in most of the States the mandi fees are levied even if purchased outside.

While Nebulla Innovations and National Bulk Handling Corporation (NBHC) will provide quality assaying services, there are some companies which will provide multiple services, such as Star Agribazaar Technology which will offer services in trading, market information and agri inputs.

Dual choices for farmers

“Electronic mandis and APMCs can work side by side to grow the market. Farmers will have dual choices, resulting in better efficiencies, improved customer service and scientific selling methods,” said Amith Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of Agribazaar platform. With mobile penetration and internet connectivity, electronic mandis will complement the physical APMC mandis in ensuring that the farmers get better and faster remuneration for the produce, he said appreciating the move to launch PoPs.

The new initiative will enable the integration of other public and private trading and service-providing platforms of the entire agriculture ecosystem through APIs. Farmers and FPOs of e-NAM and other platforms will be able to upload their produce to more buyers across the portals. It will be a win-win for both buyer and seller on the integrated platform, officials said.

Chatannathan Devarajan, Co-founder, Arya.ag, said the proliferation of marketplace-based new age business models has demonstrated the positive difference it can trigger, based on mutually beneficial propositions. “As an agri-tech player at the core of the confluence of conventional agri-chain with tech-led disruptions, we too have observed a remarkable transformation in the way the farming communities have benefitted with access to e-commerce-based market linkages,” he said.

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