eNAM, or the National Agriculture Market, is a pan-India electronic trading portal that networks the existing APMC (Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. It was launched on April 14, 2016, by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India.
eNAM aims to address the challenges faced by farmers in the traditional agricultural markets, such as:
- Lack of transparency in price discovery
- High transaction costs
- Lack of access to a wider market
- Inadequate infrastructure
eNAM provides a number of benefits to farmers, traders, and buyers, including:
- Real-time price discovery based on actual demand and supply
- Reduced transaction costs
- Increased access to a wider market
- Improved infrastructure and facilities
- Greater transparency and accountability
As of March 8, 2023, there are 1,260 mandis onboarded on the eNAM platform in 22 states and 3 union territories. The platform has facilitated trade of over 120 million MT of agricultural commodities worth over Rs. 1.2 trillion.
The biggest agriculture market in India is the Enumamula Agriculture Market in Warangal, Telangana. It is the largest wholesale market for turmeric in the world.
Here are some of the key features of eNAM:
- It is a single-window platform for all APMC-related information and services.
- It provides real-time price discovery for agricultural commodities.
- It facilitates the online trading of agricultural commodities.
- It reduces transaction costs for farmers, traders, and buyers.
- It increases access to a wider market for farmers.
- It improves infrastructure and facilities in APMC mandis.
- It promotes transparency and accountability in the agricultural market.
eNAM is a major government initiative to improve the agricultural market in India. It can potentially revolutionize the way agricultural commodities are traded in the country.