The Ministry of Agriculture plans to launch the National Agricultural Electronic Market (e-NAM) 2.0 by the end of November, with revised guidelines to increase participation of buyers and sellers. Agriculture Minister Manoj Ahuja said this would set the tone for much-needed reforms.
Ahuja, who was speaking at a one-day seminar on ‘e-NAM 2.0 and Agricultural Marketing Reforms’, said, “(Speakers) raised a lot of points. It’s up to us.” He advised officials to work out solutions that can be translated into Realistic solutions.
Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, Deputy Secretary (Marketing Division), Ministry of Agriculture, said e-NAM 2.0 will be an advanced version of the existing version where reforms in the National APMC Act will determine its success.
He called on more buyers and sellers to participate in e-NAM, saying this could only be achieved if business was easily conducted. He cited Amazon as an example and questioned why buyers use the platform. “An important aspect that attracts buyers and sellers to a trading platform like e-NAM is information. While buyers are concerned about the quality of the produce they buy, farmers are interested in knowing the correct price for the produce they want to sell.” Ahuja said and suggested that these aspects must be taken into consideration while designing the e-NAM 2.0 module.
‘Containment will increase costs’
The agriculture secretary advised states not to create artificial boundaries in the name of regulations because such measures would ultimately increase costs. He cited Madhya Pradesh’s Farmgate app and said it was the way forward as any farmer would first try to sell his/her produce at his/her doorstep if given a suitable option.
Ahuja also pointed out that there is a “world of difference” between the mandi prices displayed on the Agmarknet portal and e-NAM. “A good market (e-NAM) that captures prices would not have this discrepancy. This means transactions are not captured online but someone enters the number later. This defeats the purpose of e-NAM,” he said.
talking Business line Maninder Kaur Dwivedi, managing director of Smallholder Agribusiness Alliance (SFAC), which manages the e-NAM portal, said many contents will be gradually incorporated into the next version and feedback received from stakeholders will be carefully considered and accepted.
