e-NAM - Definition, Scope & Implementation [UPSC Notes]

In February 2023, the Central government approved the linking of 101 APMC mandis into the electronic platform e-NAM.

In May 2020, the Government of India had announced the integration of 38 new Mandis with e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). With the addition of these 38 Mandis the total tally of Mandis reached the milestone of 1000 spanning across 18 states and 3 Union Territories.

In March 2021, it was reported that about 39% of APMCS in Maharashtra had joined e-NAM

With the e-NAM being in the news, it becomes important for the IAS Exam candidates to know the following for prelims and mains:

• What is the full form of e-NAM?
• What is the role of the Agriculture Produce Market Committee? (APMC)
• How does e-NAM operate?
• What is the role of e-NAM in the agriculture market?

This article will answer all of the above questions. Meanwhile, candidates can also check Agriculture preparation related articles for UPSC preparation:

What is e-NAM?

e-NAM or the e-trading platform (online trading portal) for the National Agriculture Market (NAM) was launched by the Prime Minister of India, on April 2016.

e – National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal that nets the prevailing Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC) Mandis for making a united national market for agricultural commodities.

The e-NAM project would operate via the online portal that is linked to the states’ Mandis (Wholesale markets). All the participating states will be providing the software (Website and Mobile Application) for e-NAM at no cost.

e-NAM Latest News

The government approved the linking of 101 APMC mandis into the e-NAM platform.

Significance of this move:

• It is expected to boost the turnover of the platform.
• e-NAM aims to create a central online platform for agricultural commodity price discovery by integrating all existing APMC markets.
• The unified market is expected to aid price discovery and boost farm income.
• The platform will also offer choices to farmers to sell their produce as multiple APMC mandis will be integrated.
• Along with APMC integration, the Platform of Platforms (PoP) within the e-NAM portal will facilitate farmers to sell their produce outside their State borders.
• Due to digital access, the reach will widen to multiple markets and buyers.
• The move will also help bring transparency to business transactions which will help in better price discovery.

The list below mentions the other updates that are in the news which are related to e-NAM.

1. With the integration of 38 new Mandis with e-NAM, the Indian Government fulfiled the target of integrating 415 Mandis in phase 2 of e-Nam
   • 19 Mandis are from Madhya Pradesh
   • 10 Mandis are from Telangana
   • Four Mandis are from Maharashtra
   • One Mandi is from Gujarat
   • One Mandi is from Punjab
   • One Mandi is from Haryana
   • One Mandi is from Kerala
   • One Mandi is from the union territory of Jammu & Kashmir
2. In phase 1, 585 mandis were integrated with the e-National Agriculture Market.
3. Now, there are a total of 1000 mandids operating under e-NAM.

How Does e-NAM Operate?

A competent person will be appointed for one year in each sharing mandi in order to enable the seamless and smooth operation of the portal. Read about National Agriculture Market (NAM) in the linked article.

Some key points related to e-NAM are given below:

• The GOI is offering a grant of Rs.30 lakhs to the participating agriculture mandis.
• Farmers under this scheme will be given ‘farmer helpline services’ 24×7 to help them obtain information about the portal.
• Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is the lead promoter of National Agricultural Market (eNAM). SFAC is formulated under the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW). SFAC through open tender selects a Partner to develop, operate, and maintain the NAM e-platform.

e-NAM & Its Role in the Agriculture Industry

The farmers can benefit if they were to find ways for aggregating produce on their own, bypassing the Arhatiya (business representative) and even the local mandi (Marketplace) in the process.

e-NAM & Its Constituents

e-NAM comprises of commodity onsets and prices, buy and sell trade offers, facility to respond to trade offers, among other services.

The focus areas, with regards to the implementation of e – National Agriculture Market, are given in the table below:

In conclusion, we can say that this will turn out beneficial to the farmers when they’re receiving a higher price than before on their produce. The intermediaries that are responsible for the claiming charges that result in higher market prices can be put to trial. Larger retail stores can benefit from this and will be attracted to this due to higher profit margins since no intermediaries will be involved. When the local market prices are high, the state government has been seen blocking supplies in order to create an imbalance in Demand and Supply; hence it is critical to ensure that the software being used doesn’t have any loopholes.

What is the Agriculture Produce Market Committee?

APMC is the state governments’ driven market board that notifies the agriculture livestock and produces. It aims to limit the distress caused by the intermediaries in the lives of farmers. To read about APMC in detail, candidates can check the linked article.

To get NCERT Notes PDF for civil services preparation, aspirants can check the linked article.

e-NAM – UPSC Notes:-Download PDF Here

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