The Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, announced that 177 mandis of 10 states will be linked to the National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) to strengthen the agricultural market amid COVID-19. With this, farmers will be able to sell their crop produce through the government’s online portal in the comfort of their homes.
17 mandis from Gujarat, 26 from Haryana, 1 from Jammu and Kashmir, 1 from West Bengal, 5 from Kerala, 54 from Maharashtra, 15 from Odisha, 17 from Punjab, 25 from Rajasthan and 13 from Tamil Nadu are linked to the e-NAM. There are 962 electronic mandis in 18 states and 3 union territories in order to fulfill PM Modi’s vision of 'One Nation One Market'.
The minister carried out the procedure of inclusion of the mandis via video conferencing. Tomar said that more efforts should be made to further strengthen the e-NAM to benefit the farmers. The e-NAM portal is envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an ambitious project to use technology for the benefit of farmers. On 1 May 2020, 200 mandis of 7 states were added to it.
A total of 3.43 crore metric tons and 37.93 lakhs (bamboo and coconut) were traded on this platform till May 9, with a collective value of over Rs 1 lakh crore. Through this, a digital payment of Rs 708 crore was made, which benefited more than 1.25 lakh farmers. This platform facilitates trade beyond the state boundaries.
Presently, 150 items including food grains, oilseeds, fiber, vegetables, and fruits are being traded through e-NAM while more than 1,005 Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) are registered on this platform. It has traded 2900 metric tonnes of agricultural produce worth Rs 7.92 crore.
