Utilisation behaviour of registered farmers of selected agricultural produce market committees (APMCs) of Telangana state on e-nam portal

Abstract

National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading platform launched in 2016 by Government of India. The e-NAM is a virtual market, but at the back end, there is a physical market which assists all the APMC related information and services through a single window system and it includes information about commodity arrivals and prices of the available commodity. The integration of markets across the country through a common e-platform ensures a transparent sale process. As on August 2020, 1000 markets from 18 States and 3 Union Territories were connected with e-NAM. The present study intended to analyse the process and functioning of e-NAM facilities under selected APMCs in Telangana State, the perception of farmers about e-NAM and its utilisation and to identify the constraints in availing e-NAMservices.The study was conducted in Hyderabad and Warangal districts of Telangana state. A total of 90 respondents (60 farmers and 30 traders) formed the sample of the study using random sampling procedure. First of all, the study analysed and described the process and functioning of e-NAM. Besides, the results of the study revealed that majority (50%) of the farmers belonged to middle aged group, 88.33 per cent of farmers were males, and 50 per cent of farmers had small family size (<5 members in their family). With regard to their educational status, 31.67 per cent completed primary school level of formal education. Further, 66.37 per cent of farmers were depended on agriculture alone and 65 per cent were having more than 10 years of farming experience. Forty per cent each of the farmers possessed small farms (2.5-5 acres) and were having an annual income of ₹1 lakh to ₹2 lakhs. Nearly half of the farmers had savings between ₹50000-₹100000 and availed loans from cooperative banks (51.66%). Majority of the farmers had medium level of information seeking behaviour (56.67% farmers), medium level of decision making ability (65%), market orientation (56.67%) and economic motivation (66.66%). Though majority (90%) of the farmers were computer illiterate, all the farmers were able to use the basic functions of mobile phones. Three fourth of the traders belonged to middle aged group, all the traders were males, 50 per cent traders had medium sized family (5-8 members in their family), pursued high school level education (33.33%), and trading alone was the main occupation for 73.33 per cent traders with ₹2 -₹5 lakhs of annual income (63.34%) and ₹1 to ₹2 lakhs savings per annum (60%). Exactly 46.67 per cent of the traders availed loans from private banks with an interest rate of 10 to 20 per cent. Majority of the traders had medium level of information seeking behaviour (76.67%), market orientation (80%) and economic motivation (66.66%). All the traders were able to use computer and mobile phones. All the farmers perceived that weighing of the produces at e-NAM was done correctly. Similarly, 100 per cent of the farmers perceived that transaction cost to farm produce was not reduced through e-NAM. All the farmers were aware of the lot number generation, sale bills, grading, electronic weighing and bid creation, However, majority of the farmers were not aware of many of the facilities and services available in e-NAM. The farmers mainly utilised the eNAM portal for price checking followed by mobile number linking with e-NAM portal. All the other services were utilised by only a very few farmers. The study further revealed that educational status, computer literacy, m-literacy and awareness about e-NAM were having positive correlation with utilisation of e-NAM facilities, while age, farming experience, savings and decision making ability showed negative correlation with the utilisation of e-NAMfacilities. The traders also perceived that correct method was followed at e-NAM for weighing the produce. They further perceived that the marketing efficiency was very high with e-NAM, while better quality certificate was not available at e-NAM. All the traders were aware of most of the eNAM facilities and services unlike the farmers. The traders were mainly utilising e-NAM portal for mobile number linking followed by checking quality of the commodities and price checking. Use of warehouse facilities checking e-NAM MIS, grievance on e-NAM services were the underutilized services by the traders. The most important constraints faced by majority of the farmers were inadequate facilities for quality checking, inability to sell more number of commodities, poor knowledge on computer and internet and the limited number of bidders taking part in bidding. The most important constraints faced by traders were the problem of power failure, poor knowledge on computer and internet, lack of proper grading, and the less bidding time. Thus creating awareness among farmers and providing necessary skill in using various eNAM facilities and handholding them in effective utilisation of e-NAM would be crucial in the success of e-NAM in India.