Topic of the Day - National Agriculture Market (NAM)

Government schemes and programmes are essential parts of the UPSC syllabus. Every year, many questions can be asked from government schemes in the IAS exam. In this article, you can read about the National Agricultural Market or NAM in India.

What is the National Agriculture Market (NAM)?

The National Agriculture Market (NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal, which links the existing Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) mandis across the country to form a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

The NAM portal is a single-window service for any information and services related to APMC that includes:

• Commodity arrivals and prices
• Buy and sell trade offers
• Provision to respond to trade offers, among other services

The NAM reduces the transaction costs and information irregularity even when the agriculture produce continues to flow through the mandis.

The states can administer agriculture marketing as per their agri-marketing regulations, under which, the State is divided into various market areas and each market area is administered by a separate APMC which will impose its marketing regulation that includes fees.

Challenges addressed by NAM

The division of markets, even within the State, delays the free flow of agriculture commodities from one market area to another; also multiple handling of agriculture produce and different levels of mandi charges which end up with a rise in the prices for the consumers and no equal benefit to the farmer.

NAM addresses these challenges by-

• Creating a unified market through the online trading platform across the country (at state and national level).
• Promoting uniformity.
• Rationalizing procedures across the unified markets.
• Eliminating information irregularity between the buyers and sellers and promoting real-time price findings based on actual demand and supply.
• Promotes transparency in the auction process.
• Providing an accessible nationwide market for the farmer with equal prices for the quality of his produce.
• Availability better quality produces at more reasonable prices and online payment to the consumer.
• Till now, the Common tradable parameters have been developed for 61 commodities.
• M/s. Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. is the Strategic Partner (SP) responsible for the development, operation, and maintenance of the platform.
• The broad role of the Strategic Partner is all-inclusive that includes writing of the software, modifying it to meet the particular requirements of the mandis in the States willing to incorporate with NAM, and running the platform.

Objectives of NAM

• A nation-wide e-market portal for transparent sales and transactions and price discovery in the regulated markets.
• The States can promote the e-trading as per their APMC Act and enact suitable provisions under the act by their State Agricultural Marketing Board/APMC.
• Liberal licensing of traders or buyers and commission agents by State authorities without any pre-condition of physical presence or possession of shop or premises in the market yard.
• One license for a trader valid across all markets in the State.
• Synchronization of quality standards of agricultural commodities and facility for assessing (quality testing) infrastructure in every market to facilitate informed bidding by buyers.
• Single point tax of market fees on the first wholesale purchase from the farmer.
• Soil Testing Laboratories facility in/or near the particular mandi to assist visiting farmers to access this provision in the mandi itself.

Related Links