Last week, on a single day 49.7 quintals of groundnut worth ₹2,34,197, 45 quintals of wheat worth ₹1,13,548 and 6 quintals of corriander (whole) worth ₹43,896 were sold through inter-State transactions
| Photo Credit:
SUDHAKARA JAIN
The Centre is preparing to roll out e-NAM 2.0, and States may have to make some changes in their Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Acts. This will be a preparatory step by the Centre to ensure that more inter-State transactions happen over the e-NAM platform. Through hand holding of States, traders are being persuaded to buy though e-NAM. However, it needs many structural reforms required by both the Centre and States to show desired results, experts said.
In the first phase, the Centre has reached out to Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh which have given their assurance to work in coordination to ensure that more inter-State transactions take place, sources said. Once some transactions are streamlined in these four states, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Odisha will be the next to be roped in for the second phase of expansion.
It is learnt that S K Singh, deputy agricultural marketing adviser in the Agriculture Ministry, has been in touch with Mandi Boards of these States to take forward the initiative.
Real issue
Last week, on a single day 49.7 quintals of groundnut worth ₹2,34,197, 45 quintals of wheat worth ₹1,13,548 and 6 quintals of corriander (whole) worth ₹43,896 were sold through inter-State transactions. While sellers were farmers from Nimbahera and Ramganj mandis of Rajasthan, buyers were from Neemuch and Mandsaur of Madhya Pradesh.
However, a trader from Madhya Pradesh, requesting anonymity, said that he keeps buying agri produce from a few mandis of Rajasthan through his contacts, mostly commission agents, and they know the farmers who bring the produce to the mandis. Since the mandi secretary requested for the online transaction and he also knew the seller, he obliged rather than doing the physical buying, he said.
“The real issue is to earn the trust of the buyers in the system so that automatically trade can happen. Once farmers know of its utility, they will flock to it,” said a flour miller of Jaipur, Rajasthan. As he preferred to buy wheat from Kota and other mandis through commission agents, he said they trust the agents who ensure the quality of the product. Besides, as the transaction happens on a few days of credit, at least till delivery and in case of a dispute (on receiving inferior quality) most of the times the matter is mutually resolved by a deduction in the value of the trade.
Doesn’t touch all
However, some key issues need to be resolved before expecting a “real” transaction to happen with a buyer from another State. These include a unified licensing system for buyers that has to be respected by all States, a third-party agency to guarantee the quality of the produce till the delivery point of buyers and non-exemption for farmer producer organisations (FPOs) from the APMC laws, a senior official said.
Last year, Chhattisgarh and some States in the north-east region made amendments to their APMC Acts, allowing registered traders of other states to buy through e-NAM even if they are not registered with the government where the seller is located. “It is partially correct to take such an initiative. But, it does not touch the buyers of Bihar or Kerala where there is no APMC law,” the official said.
There is also another issue of fee, charged by the local APMC market committee within its geographical jurisdiction even if the seller is selling at his own village. “To start with, the Centre has to tell all those States where inter-state trade is being promoted to amend the APMC laws exempting FPOs from the purview and also allow them to independently sell their produce through e-NAM,” a source said.
Published on June 4, 2025