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Shortcomings of conventional mandis have been revealed in light of the COVID- 19 pandemic. That’s why a need for an equitable pan-India infrastructure has become obvious. e-Mandis (online marketplaces) can be a gateway to new trading opportunities for farmers.

With the same objective, agribazaar has launched Madhya Pradesh’s first-ever private e-Mandi (online marketplace) under The Mandi Act, 1972, in Sept 2021. The ultimate goal of establishing e-Mandis is to provide better benefits to the local farming community in small farmers’ best interests. Below are some of the features of MP’s private online mandi or e-Mandi:

• Requires single license state-wide
• Buying directly from farmers
• End-to-end stock management
• Instant & secure digital payment solutions
• Transparent & trusted trading

However, the e-Mandi model introduced by agribazaar in Madhya Pradesh comprises third-party services, including assaying, storage & procurement, financing, logistics, and agent handling. The transaction process on the platform involves Farm Gate Trades, Warehouses/PPCs as delivery centers, and Procurement at APMC Yards.
The MP e-Mandi offers certain step-wise services based on locations & commodities, a few prerequisites for an e-Trading license, an end-to-end procurement procedure – starting from registration to delivery & settlement, completed by important value-added services.

There are definitely significant benefits of implementing e-Mandis throughout India; some are mentioned below.

• Provide a simple warehouse-based trading module, where a farmer can upload the details of their produce to an online platform, which can be accessed by interested buyers across the country
• Enable real-time market prices for farmers and provide secure online payments, empowering them to directly connect with distantly located buyers
• Make post-harvest management practices more transparent, like the agricultural sales process, and reduce farmers’ efforts
• Give farmers access to trade beyond Mandis or states that will increase consumer access and also help in getting better prices for their agri-products
• Ensure seamlessness of trading and payment operations to pull farmers out from cash crunches or payment delays

Conclusion

By bringing much-needed transparency to the sector, digital mandis provide the exciting prospect of quickening the farm-to-fork journey while promoting fair trade and price discovery based mainly upon real-time supply and demand and produce quality. agribazaar aims to expand the e-Mandi territory across India to benefit & strengthen our nations’ farming communities, especially the farmers!