Context

• The union government has launched new features in electronic agriculture market platform (e-NAM), to decongest wholesale markets amid coronavirus threat.
• Whether these features would solve the problems of farmers is a matter of question.

What is e-NAM?

• eNAM platform is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India.
• It was launched on April 14, 2016 as a pan-India electronic trade portal linking agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) across all states.
• It facilitates farmers, traders and buyers with online trading in commodities.
• It helps in better price discovery and provides facilities for smooth marketing of their produce.

Trading on e-NAM

• Over 90 commodities including staple food grains, vegetables and fruits are currently listed in its list of commodities available for trade.
• The farmer needs to upload details of his produce and a photo of the harvest on the platform.
• It actually provided for evaluation and grading of produce.

Why farmers don’t prefer e-NAM?

• Lack of internet connectivity is another issue impeding progress.
• Farmers feel more comfortable with physical trading rather than going online as they face issues with transportation for their produce.
• Only 8.42 per cent of the total mandis are connected through the e-NAM platform.

Issues with grading

• There are no scientific sorting/grading facilities or quality testing machines.
• The grading process makes farmers bring a sample of their produce that is evaluated and graded by agricultural assessors.
• A report on the sample can be accessed by any buyer in any state before making the purchase, once graded by assessors.
• The government realized the complexities allowed for gradation from a warehouse nearest to them and farmers need not commute to a mandi from remote areas.
• It is, however, still not clear whether produce can be graded at the warehouse or not.

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