Maharashtra: Farmers move to eNAM, turmeric sees significant increase in trade

The lockdown and the need to maintain social distancing had put serious challengers for both farmers as well as traders. Sunil Pawar, the managing director of Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board (MSAMB) said it was decided to encourage the use of eNAM for the spice crop to overcome both problems. “Turmeric is a high value and low volume crop, and is not perishable. Thus, the problem of fruits and vegetables does not arise,” he said.

In order to help farmers over trade restrictions, MSAMB, along with district authorities of Sangli, took the help of eNAM. “…Traders do not have to personally verify the quality of the produce and then call out bids. The bids on the platform are based on quality reports which farmers submit from assaying laboratories,” he said. Once bids are accepted by both parties, deliveries can be arranged as per convenience. Farmers who pledge their commodities with the market committee under the state government’s pledge loan scheme can sell their produce from the godowns.

Pawar said that since April 27, the state has seen the arrival of 30,913.41 quintals of turmeric, and the total traded volume was 28,167.46 quintals. The total value of the trade till date is around Rs 16.36 crore. “This certainly would be one of the largest such transactions on the platform,” he said. The Government of India has been actively promoting eNAM to help better returns for farmers. However, resistance from traders has seen the platform not taking off in a big way.