OREANDA-NEWS. December 18, 2015. In order to ensure free flow of Agricultural produce from one market area to another, save producers from multiple levies of mandi charges and to ensure agro commodities for consumer at reasonable prices, the Government has drawn a time bound programme for developing National Agriculture Market .

The National e-platform developed for this proposes will cover 250 Agri mandis by September 2016 and by March 2018 total 585 mandis will have the system to ensure the farmers’ access of for their produce across the markets. Briefing about the initiative of the Central Government to the Members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister, said that the Government is actively working to usher in reforms of the Agri marketing system in the interests of farmers and consumers both.

The center has urged the state Governments to introduce e-market platform within the state to unify mandis of the state so that farmers are free to sell in any of the mandi. Department of Agriculture will provide free software and help in its customization for the states.

Shri Singh said that the Central Government has embarked on the idea of creating a unified market through an online platform at national level ultimately. National Agriculture Market (NAM) would offer a common market places by providing real time prices on a national level to the participants of the Agri Produce eco- systems . It would create an efficient trading system for Agri-produce , which would enable transaction between buyers and sellers from their existing location, thus expending the existing market and also facilitating transactions in places where marks physically do not exist, over a period of time. A new distribution channel for procurement and sale will come into existence, which would result in better price discovery for Agri- Produce, largely benefiting the frames. The prices reflected would be determined by demand and supply prevailing from time to time and shall be captured on real time basis, he said.

He said that center has kept Rs 175 crore to provide assistance of about Rs 30 lakh per mandi for the software and it has already approved financial assistance for Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

The members of the parliament who attended the meeting were S/Shri Chintaman Navsha Wanaga, Manshankar Ninama, Rodmal Nagar, Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Shobha Karandlaje, Tapas Mandal, K.Rahman Khan and K.R.Arjunan.