Farmers Income

National Agricultural Market(e-NAM) that was launched in 2016 was meant to enable the farmers to  sell their agricultural produce by making them access a   multiple buyers and multiple markets electronically.Digitisation of the agricultural markets  made it possible  for the  Farmers Producers Organisations(FPOs) to  take the market benefits from the  digital platforms like e-NAM,ONDC( Open Network for digital Commerce) and Gem( Government e-Marketplace and enter into a new arena of market with a focus on competitive marketing strategies to sell their products to the consumers.It is pertinent to mention that the Reserve bank of India(RBI) has introduced  the RBI  Working Paper Series to showcase the research that is in progress to generate debate based on the ground work done on the basis of the available market data. The Working Paper titled “Vegetables Inflation in India: A Study of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP)” estimates farmers’ share in the consumer rupee to be about 33% for tomatoes, 36% for onions and 37% for potatoes. In another RBI’s Working Paper “Price Dynamics and Value Chain of Fruits in India”, the farmers’ share in the consumer rupee is estimated at around 31 % for bananas, 35% for grapes and 43 % for mangoes in the domestic value chain. The factors such as number of marketing channels, higher marketing cost and margins, and high perishability affects the price realisation by the farmers. In addition to enhancing the  production  and the productivity, the  government’s concern  is directed to  taking measures for the improvement of  the marketing of the agricultural produce in order to reduce the post-harvest losses to ensure remunerative prices for  the farmers produce. Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), support is extended to cold storages in agri-export clusters, at farm gate level, for small and marginal farmers as well as big businesses, APMCs/mandis to reduce post-harvest losses and increase farmers’ returns. Entrepreneurs, cooperatives, PACS, and SHGs are actively availing AIF support for establishing cold chain logistics, often integrated with grading, sorting, and packaging units. Till 30.06.2025, 2454 cold storage projects have been sanctioned under AIF with a sanctioned amount of ₹8258 crore. Besides, under the MIDH, for holistic development of the horticulture sector, including reducing harvest and post-harvest losses, financial assistance is provided for various horticulture activities. These include setting up of Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, cold storages, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project cost in hilly and scheduled areas through respective State Horticulture Mission(s) (SHMs).This information has been shared by the  Minister of State   for Agriculture and  Farmers Welfare Ramnath Thakur  in the Lok Sabha. There is a need to introduce a multidisciplinary approach to farmers’ marketing issues and their management. Over the years there is an increase in devoting space to these issues and this has led to introduction of the Agri-Business courses at the masters level in the universities so that a gap is filled in terms of trained human resource. That is why the courses like the MBA in Agri Business Management (ABM) are taking the centre stage. But much has not been done .There is a need to give priority to these courses by giving opportunities to the professionals at the teaching and research level who have the capacity and skills to integrate the marketing issues in agriculture with the professional management and marketing techniques.