An electronic trading platform for farmers has been launched by the government in order to improve transparency in the wholesales markets and help farmers earn better prices for their product.
The platform was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he said that this platform would initially trade product from 365 wholesale markets but it aims to increase to 585 by March 2018.
“This initiative will usher in transparency which will greatly benefit the farmer,” PM Modi said. “This scheme naturally benefits farmers, but it also benefits other stakeholders, and consumers.”
According to analyst this new platform has limitations. The Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) act was originally developed so that all food produce should first be brought to a market yard and then sold through auction. But it led to the creation of middlemen, who take hefty cut depriving farmers of better prices.
PM himself has urged the states to amend the act, but 8 of Indian states have not agreed to adopt the electronic trading.
For now 21 states have agreed to connect their wholesales market to platform, which includes states Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat.
