Diversification of Agriculture Markets

The Government wants to diversify the agricultural markets to reduce over-reliance on the APMC system across India. For this various schemes and systems have been put in place.

e-RaKAM:

Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi or e-RaKAM brings together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease the selling and buying process of agricultural products.

e-NAM or National Agriculture Market:

It is a pan-India electronic portal for the sale and purchase of agricultural produce launched in April 2016. It networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.

• It aims to provide a single window service for all APMC-related information & services, including commodity arrivals & prices, buy & sell trade offers, provision to respond to trade offers etc.
  1. To reduce the transaction cost,
  2. Provide a single licence valid across all markets,
  3. Help farmers identify the best buyers,
  4. Enable single-point levy of market fees and
  5. Maintain quality standards with provision for quality testing.
• Funding: NAM is set up through the Agri-Tech Infrastructure Fund (ATIF)
• Pre-requisites: Amendments in the State APMC Acts by States/UTs to be eligible for assistance under the scheme. :-
  1. A single license to be valid across the State,
  2. Single point levy of market fee and
  3. Provision for electronic auction as a mode for price discovery.

Implementation of e-NAM:

1. DAC&FW (M/o A&FW) will meet expenses on software and its customization. It gives a one-time fixed cost grant subject to the ceiling of ₹30L/Mandi (other than to the private mandis) for related equipment/infrastructure for installation.
2. State Governments will propose the regulated markets which are to be integrated.
3. Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) will implement it in selected regulated markets.

Poor adoption of e-NAM

Currently, around 1300 mandis are under e-NAM. Most of them are from Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat. This is because the farmer unions, governed by large farmers, have been against the adoption of a newer system.

For the quicker adoption of e-NAM, NITI Aayog launched the “Agricultural Marketing and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index (AMFFRI)” in 2016. It ranks the states based on their adoption of e-NAM and related marketing reforms.

Small Farmers Agri-Business Consortium:

It is a society formed in 1994 which facilitates agri-business ventures.

• It has two components:
• State SFACs.
• Central SFACs.
• Role:
• Promotion of Agri-business project development.
• Helping the formation of FPOs & FPCs and making available working capital to them.
• Implementing agency of e-NAM.

3 Schemes:

• Agri-business Development(ABD) through VCA(Venture Capital Assistance) & PDF(project development facility): Establish forward & backward linkage.
• Grant up to 10L to each registered FPC to match the member equity raised by the institution.
• Credit Guarantee Fund(CGF): 100 Cr; Max 1Cr loan to FPCs without collateral.

• • Price Stabilization Fund: SFAC works as a Central Procurement agency for Pulses and Oilseeds under the Department of Consumer Affairs.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)

• It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act.
• Aim: to promote cooperative marketing of agricultural produce to benefit the farmers.
• Organization: Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED, who have the authority in the form of members of the General Body in the working of the body.
• Functions:
  • To facilitate the marketing andtrading of agricultural commodities.
  • To facilitate theprocurement of inputs for agriculture such as seeds, fertilisers, implements
  • To provide warehousing facilities for the agricultural produce generated.
  • To act as aninsurance agent for agricultural produce.
  • To act as an agent to the government in procurement and to collaborate with international agencies for the development of the cooperativemarket in agricultural produce.

Major Schemes run by NAFED:

• Honey Farmer Producer Organisation Programme – a central sector scheme to create a robust infrastructure for processing honey and allied products, a good supply chain for storage and marketing and skill development in holistic beekeeping.
• NAFED Bazaars:  Provides grocery items in retail to consumers at competitive rates, NAFED is running three outlets at Ashram, Lawrence Road and Krishi Bhawan, seven franchisee shops in different locations in Delhi like Rohini, Dwarka, Narela and GTB Hospital etc. and two in Shimla in the name of Nafed Bazaar.
• ‘मधुक्रान्तिपोर्टल‘ & ‘Honey Corners’: It enables consumers to know the source of honey and assure the quality of the products.
• It is an initiative of the National Bee Board (NBB), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under the National Beekeeping & Honey Mission (NBHM).
• This portal is being developed for online registration to achieve traceability sources of Honey and other beehive products on a digital platform. The technical and banking partner for the development of this digital platform is Indian Bank. An MoU between NBB and Indian Bank was signed for this project.
• It will lead to an increase in the income of farmers, employment generation and an increase in exports. Sweet Revolution should spread all over the country and Indian honey should meet global standards.

Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme:

• Launched under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
• A centrally sponsored scheme that aims to enhance the competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the food processing industry and to promote formalization of the sector and provide support to Farmer Producer Organizations, Self Help Groups, and Producers Cooperatives along their entire value chain.
• With an outlay of 10,000 crores for five years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, the scheme envisions directly assisting the 2,00,000 micro food processing units for providing financial, technical, and business support for the up-gradation of existing micro food processing enterprises.

One District One Product (ODOP) brands.

• MoFPI has signed an agreement with NAFED to develop 10 brands of selected ODOPs under the branding and marketing component of the PMFME scheme.
• MoFPI & NAFED launched six such brands – namely Amrit Phal, Cori Gold, Kashmiri Mantra, Madhu Mantra, Somdana, and Whole Wheat Cookies of Dilli Bakes.
• Aim: to encourage the micro food processing enterprises (MFPEs) across the country about the vision, efforts, and initiatives of the Government to formalise, upgrade and strengthen them and take them a step closer to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• MFPs are encouraged to come forth and avail branding support under this initiative including the use of marketing rights of these brands from NAFED.

E-Commerce: All the products will be available at NAFED Bazaars, E-commerce platforms, and prominent retail stores across India.

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