Nagaland is among the top performing states under e-NAM(National Agriculture Market) in the Northeast region since inception but the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) which regulate the agricultural trading practices and operate under the state government faces several challenges in adopting e-marketing strategies.
This was stated by deputy executive director, Nagaland State Agriculture Produce and Livestock Managing Board (NSAPLMB), Benri Mozhui while speaking at the one-day training programme for Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) on agricultural marketing organized by NSAPLMB at its office, 4th mile on Tuesday.
He informed that e-NAM is a Pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis (market place) to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. It was launched by Prime Minister on April 14, 2016 and funded by the central government and implemented by Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) under the aegis of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
In Nagaland, 19 mandis have been registered on e-NAM portal. According to Benri, integrating e-marketing with traditional APMC operation could be a complex process, but there were several potential solution and best practices that can facilitate the integration. He highlighted some of the challenges faced by the APMCs such as infrastructure limitations, institutional barriers, information asymmetry, digital literacy, financial constraints, cultural resistance etc.
In order to overcome these challenges apart from the government intervention, he said APMCs have to invest in infrastructure, provide training, and create a regulatory environment that supports the adoption of e-marketing in agriculture.
Benri further explained that integration of e-NAM with APMCs has enhanced the scope of agriculture marketing by creating an online portal platform, which links the existing APMC mandis across the country to form a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
CEO of NSAPLMB, N. Jacob Yanthan in his speech, highlighted the issues and challenges faced by the APMCs and encouraged the chairmen and secretaries of APMCs to have a strong connection with the grassroot level.
To overcome the issues and challenges faced by the APMCs, Jacob suggested organizing a state level buyer and seller meet where agricultural produces of the respective districts could be exchanged. He also informed the gathering, that a central hub has been opened at NSAPLMB office where APMCs could directly contact the centre for any assistance.
He also presented a data on the status of arrival of organic commodities received by the NSAPLMB since February 2, 2024.
According to the data, 14,46,940.45 kgs of organic commodities have been received from 12 districts. He also informed that under NSAPLMB, the organic AC market, the first in the Northeast state was established in December 8, 2020. He said all produces and agriculture commodities were sourced from within Nagaland state through the APMCs.
He also informed that under NSAPLMB, king chilly was exported to London in July 28, 2011; pineapple consignment to Kolkata, supply of seeds to International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD) and more are in the pipeline. Apart from this, he said NSAPLMB also provides internship to students of agriculture and MBA, from various colleges and universities in the state and from outside.