New Delhi: Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Monday, launched integration of 177 new mandis, including 15 from Odisha, with the National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) to strengthen agriculture marketing and facilitate farmers to sell their harvested produce through the online portal.
According to the ministry, the mandis of nine states, Gujarat (17), Haryana (26), Kerala (5), Maharashtra (54), Odisha (15), Punjab (17), Rajasthan (25), Tamil Nadu (13) and West Bengal (1) and one from Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have been integrated with the e-NAM. The ministry said with the launch of 177 additional mandis, the total number of eNAM mandis across country now stands at 962.
Launching the new mandis through video-conferencing, Tomar said efforts should be made to strengthen eNAM further to benefit the farmers. He said eNAM portal has been envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an ambitious use of technology for the benefit of farmers.
Earlier, 785 mandis were integrated with eNAM across 17 states and 2 UTs, with a user base of 1.66 crore farmers, 1.30 lakh traders and 71,911 commission agents.
“As of May 9, total volume of 3.43 crore MT and 37.93 lakh bamboo and coconuts collectively worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore has been traded on eNAM platform. Digital payments worth Rs 708 crore have been done via eNAM platform, benefitting more than 1.25 lakh farmers. eNAM facilitates trade beyond mandi/state borders. A total of 236 mandis participated in inter-mandi trade across 12 states whereas 13 states/UTs have participated in the inter-state trade allowing farmers to interact directly with distantly located traders,” the ministry said.
Moreover, to decongest mandis during Covid-19 lockdown, the government has launched new features on the eNAM platform, enabling direct trading from warehouses as well as collection centres of farmer producer organisations (FPOs), besides logistics support.
At present, 150 commodities, including foodgrains, oilseeds, fibers, vegetables and fruits, are being traded on eNAM.
More than 1,005 FPOs have been registered on eNAM platform and have traded 2,900 tonnes of agri-produce worth Rs 7.92 crores.