National Agriculture Market: Working & Role|UPSC Notes

National Agriculture Market (NAM) has been yet another initiative toward the unification of the agricultural market in India. It is a digital platform to facilitate the seamless trading of agricultural products all over the country. NAM was conceptualized to connect the farmers, the traders, and the buyers more transparently and efficiently. By obliterating the middlemen and transactions facilitated, NAM makes agriculture markets more efficient.

• NAM enables direct access to the products of farmers to the consumers.
• Middlemen are minimized
• Farmers will get a national platform for an enhanced benefit
• Agricultural market transparency will increase
• NAM improves the agricultural supply chain efficiency.

What is the National Agriculture Market?

National Agriculture Market is an electronic pan-India trading platform. It was launched by the Government of India in the year 2016 and created a unified national market for agricultural products, allowing linking APAC across states into one integrated market, cutting geographical barriers, and helping improve the market efficiency.

The national agriculture market provides fair pricing and reflects the real market circumstances. It reduces dependence on local mandis and opens up new avenues for better pricing. This sort of digital transformation empowers farmers, traders, and consumers by providing them with near real-time access to pricing data and trade facilities.

Benefits of the National Agriculture Market

• Bets price discovery: Real-time information on crop prices in various markets.
• Reduced transaction costs: Due to the cutting down of intermediaries, the cost for farmers becomes low.
• Unified market access: The farmer can sell the produce outside the locality and reach the national platform.
• Transparency: NAM provides better transparency in trade which helps reduce malpractices.
• Empowerment: By using NAM, more knowledge is empowered to farmers for control over their sales.

How does the national agriculture market work?

National Agriculture Market works by integrating the physical markets, also called APMCs, on a single online platform that enables online bidding and price determination wherein buyers and sellers can directly interact through this platform. The farmers can take their produce to the market, and with the use of the online facilities, check the real-time price and sell to the highest bidder. Payments are also streamlined as digital payment options are available.

• Price Transparency: With the National Agriculture Market, pricing data is in real time; therefore, farmers will know their best prices and stay away from being exploited by the intermediaries. That way, fair and accurate market pricing.
• Reduces Intermediary’s Role: Going direct and connecting the farmers to buyers decreases dependency on layers of intermediaries responsible for costs and inefficiencies in traditional markets for agriculture products.
• Expansion of Market Access: NAM brings farmers to a wider national market, thus enabling them to sell their produce outside the local mandis, which reduces geographical barriers and inefficiencies owing to restricted market access.
• Ensures Efficient Transactions: The National Agriculture Market has ensured faster and safer transactions through digital payments, thus eliminating delays and inefficiencies on account of cash transactions and physical exchange prevalent in earlier systems.
• Improves Farmer Involvement: NAM empowers farmers through which they can participate in e-auctions through proper tools and information availed to them and therefore comes rid of market inefficiencies that occurred from lack of knowledge, insufficient resources, or inability to negotiate better deals.
• Infrastructure Issues: Most of the farmers have not been assigned any internet and digital literacy
• Poor Adoption: Several states and markets have been slow to adopt the NAM platform.
• Middlemen: In some states, middlemen are in control which hampers the sale of direct farmers.

Role of the Government in Developing the National Agriculture Market

The government of India has initiated several initiatives to develop the National Agriculture Market. Currently, the government offers financial benefits and technology to more farmers for coming on board.

Financial Incentive for Farmers

To encourage more farmers, the government has designed financial incentives that will motivate them to register on the National Agriculture Market. Therefore, it offers subsidies on digital infrastructure installation for farmers to encourage more farmers to access the platform and sell their produce directly.

Digital Literacy Training

The government provides farmers with training on how to use the digital platform. This will enhance their digital literacy capabilities and allow them to obtain real-time prices, participate in e-auctions, and make online transactions.

Rural Infrastructure Upgrade

Developing Rural Infrastructure: To help the National Agriculture Market grow, the government is working on developing rural infrastructure by preparing better roads, related storage facilities, and internet connectivity in districts that will help people access the digital market platform more smoothly.

Incentivizing State Adoption

The state government pushes APMCs to integrate with NAM. To facilitate easy integration, the state government provides both monetary and infrastructural support so that this initiative reaches more people and brings unified accessibility to the national market.

Policy Support and Reforms

With such policies in place, the government makes sure that the National Agriculture Market operates with much less hindrance than before and offers benefits to both the farmers and traders in the country.

Benefits of the National Agriculture Market for the Farmers

With the National Agriculture Market, farmers can be assured of seeing maximum benefits. This will provide them with a vast network of buyers spread across the country for accessing and selling their produce at better prices. It means the farmer shall not sell under market prices to mid-pointers, as the use of real-time price discovery results in this. The accessibility to quality inputs and better storage facilities also enhance the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain system.

Techno Functions of the National Agriculture Market

The National Agriculture Market is infused with the latest technologies such as e-auctioning and online payment facilities for market data, both in real-time and liable for use by farmers, traders, and customers. Even farmers sitting far off in the interior regions can easily access it through the mobile application. It also has other government scheme schemes, such as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and Kisan Credit Card for providing holistic support to a farmer.

Impact of National Agriculture Market on Agricultural Trade

The National Agriculture Market has had various impacts on agricultural trade since its commencement. It successfully linked more than a thousand markets in India and made selling easier for farmers. The digital platform has reduced the role of intermediaries, and price discovery, and improved the efficiency in the agricultural supply chains. The platform estimated that it had helped farmers get the best prices for their produce.

Conclusion

NAM has emerged as a game-changer for the agricultural sector of India. It empowered farmers, reduced inefficiencies in trade, and brought much-needed transparency. With more farmers, states, and APMCs joining the fray, the future looks bright for NAM. Continuous government support, improvement in technology, and upgrades in infrastructure will help India achieve its ambitious goal of doubling the farmers’ incomes.

National Agriculture Market UPSC Notes

1. e-NAM is an online trading platform that integrates existing agricultural markets across India, ensuring better price discovery for farmers. 2. The platform aims to create a unified national market by linking mandis, and promoting efficient and transparent agricultural trade. 3. It helps farmers access a broader marketplace, eliminating the middlemen and reducing price manipulation in local markets. 4. e-NAM supports real-time price information, providing farmers with more control over their produce pricing. 5. The platform encourages the adoption of technology in agriculture, boosting digital literacy among farmers. 6. e-NAM helps in streamlining supply chains by facilitating direct buyer-seller interactions, reducing transaction costs. 7. The government provides financial and technical support to states for upgrading mandis to be part of e-NAM. 8. The initiative promotes transparency and fair competition in agricultural markets, leading to better income for farmers.

Read More Articles on UPSC Preparation
India’s Right to Information Act UPSC Editorial	One Nation One Election: Evaluating Pros and Cons for India
Transforming India’s Judiciary with Compassion and Reform	Rights to Equality Article (14-18): UPSC Notes
Black Money: Nature & Causes|UPSC Notes	Law Commission of India: Functions| UPSC Notes