Global conference on rural finance hosted by NABARD

On 12 Nov, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed 6th World Congress on Rural and Agriculture Finance jointly organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Asia-Pacific Rural Agricultural and Credit Association (APRACA).  During the event, the minister said the Central government is impressing upon states to dismantle the Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) and adopt electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). A digital agriculture market at national level will ensure that farmers get better price for their produce.  e-NAM is a pan-India electronic trading portal which networks the existing APMC mandis to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. So far, 21 e-NAM mandis of eight states namely Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have joined hands to start inter-state trade on e-NAM. Initially started with 25 commodities, e-trade facilities have been provided on 124 commodities with tradable parameters on e-NAM portal. Through inter-state trade, farmers get better market access, more buyers/ traders and realise better prices for their produce.