GETTING THE BEST PRICE

A national online marketplace, eNAM is a boon for farmers burdened by low prices for their produce

- ANILESH S. MAHAJAN

eNAM (National Agricultural Market)Launched in April 2016

Achievement: Has integrated 1,389 mandis across 27 states; reported sales of Rs 78,424 crore in FY24

THE DRUDGERY

The lack of access to reliable information on market prices, demand trends and buyers directly impacted the incomes of farmers and their ability to realise fair prices, leaving them at the mercy of middlemen. What also complicated matters is that the conventional APMC (Agricultural Produce & Livestock Market Committee) mandis required farmers to bring their produce for the physical auction. This meant incurring logistics costs and, in the event that a fair price was not got, it impacted the farmer's ability to store the crops.

All these factors together made the middlemen/ traders/intermediaries dominant in the supply chain. They determined the price of the crop, not the farmer. The inevitable result: price manipulation, aided by unfair practices such as whimsical quality assessments. The farmer couldn't even complain when his payouts were delayed. Such was the ground reality that it nearly forced the concept of digitalised and interconnected mandis.

THE EASE OF LIVING