Pros & Cons of E-NAM


National Agriculture Market or eNAM is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India. The market facilitate farmers, traders and buyers with online trading in commodities. The market is helping in better price discovery and provide facilities for smooth marketing of their produce. The market transactions stood at ₹36,200 crores by January 2018, mostly intra-market. Over 90 commodities including staple food grains, vegetables and fruits are currently listed in its list of commodities available for trade. The eNAM markets are proving popular as the crops are weighed immediately and the stock is lifted on the same day and the payments are cleared online. In February 2018, some attractive features like MIS dashboard, BHIM and other mobile payments, enhanced features on the mobile app such as gate entry and payment through mobile phones and farmers database is helping adoption even more. The present trading is done mostly for intra-market, but in phases, it will be rolled out to trade in inter-market, inter-state, creating a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
It was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The electronic market pilot across India was launched on 14 April 2016 by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. The Portal is managed by Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) with the technology provider, NFCL’s iKisan division. A similar project was initiated by the Congress government in the State of Karnataka, during UPA tenure and had been a great success. NDA government has rolled it out nationally.
On the ENAM platform, farmers can opt to trade directly on their own through the mobile app or through registered commission agents.
The eNAM is linked with 585 markets (APMCs) in 16 states and 2 union territory, with over 45 lakh farmer membership in 15 states. The market is helping traders and exporters in procuring quality products in bulk, at one place and ensure transparent financial transactions.
The Government plans to connect over 22,000 GrAMs, local farmers markets, with the platform. To provide better grading and assaying services, the Agriculture Department is looking at looping in AGMARK for better certification.
The trading is done online, with trading computers or through the mobile app in all e-nam markets

Advantages of E-Nam-



  1. Transparent Online Trading
  2. Real-Time Price Discovery
  3. Better Price Realization For Producers
  4. Reduced Transaction Cost For Buyers
  5. Stable Price and Availability to Consumers
  6. Quality Certification, Warehousing, and Logistics
  7. More Efficient Supply Chain
  8. Payment and Delivery Guarantee
  9. Error Free Reporting of Transactions
  10. Enhanced Accessibility to the Market

Drawbacks of E-Nam-

  1. Lack of storage facility: there is no proper storage or warehouse facility for farmers in villages where they can store their agricultural produce. Because of this, 15–30% of the agricultural produce is eaten or spoilt by rats and other pests or rains annually. This results in farmers being forced to sell their surplus produce at very low and un-remunerative prices.
  2. Distress sale: most Indian farmers are extremely poor and have no capacity to wait for a better pricing on their produce in the absence of proper credit facilities. Farmers often have to go for distress sales of their output to the village moneylenders-cum-merchants at very poor rates.
  3. Lack of poor transportation: farmers cannot reach the markets due to poor transportation facilities. This leads to them not being able to sell their produce. Thus, they prefer to sell their produce in the villages.
  4. Intermediaries: a large number of intermediaries or middle men exists between the final market and the farmer. All these middlemen claim a good amount of the goods and money and therefore, reduce the returns of the cultivators.
  5. Unregulated markets: huge number of markets adopt various malpractices. Prevalence of these false weights and lack of grading and standardisation of products in village markets in India are always going against the interest of ignorant, small and poor farmers.
  6. Lack of market intelligence: Indian farmers are not always aware of the ruling prices of their produce in big markets. Hence, they have to accept low prices for their produce as offered by the middlemen or traders.
The following are some measures to be followed for improving the existing system of agricultural marketing in the country:
  1. Establishment of regulated markets.
  2. Establishment of cooperative marketing societies.
  3. Extension and construction of more storage and warehouse facilities.
  4. Expansion of market yards.
  5. Improvement of transportation facilities.
  6. Provision for standardisation and grading of the produce for ensuring good quality to the consumers and better prices for farmers.


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