The government is considering increasing the sale of onions through the e-NAM portal even as Nashik traders continue to strike

Amid the indefinite strike by onion traders in Nashik, the Center is considering increasing inter-state onion trade through the e-NAM platform. The National Consumer Cooperative  Federation (NCCF) sold nearly 2,000 tonnes of onions from Maharashtra’s Lasalgaon mandi (market) in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal through online shopping in the last three weeks.

 “There is inter-state trade in E-NAM and word is that NCCF is ready to supply quality onions everywhere”, said a senior official. According to the official, there is a need to expand operations as there is no regulatory mandate to buy only from the mandi, and adding infrastructure is also necessary as there is no direct alternative. Traders claim that Nafed and NCCF buy onions from farmers in Nashik and sell them to APMCs in other states at much lower prices than the traders offer to the wholesale buyer. This practice affects their foreign trade. 

 APMC threat 

  The minister in charge of Nashik District Dada Bhusen will again meet the onion traders on Friday. He has already called on them to call off the indefinite strike that started on Wednesday.  The Lasalgaon mandi, which usually receives 15,000-20,000 onions a day during this period, and other Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) boards warned traders on Thursday, even threatening to withdraw trading permits.  According to sources, both NCCF and Nafed have so far sold over 10,200 tonnes of onions worth over ₹22 billion through the e-NAM platform since August 29 after the government launched a market intervention program aimed at improving physical facilities in these centers. prices are higher than the national average. 

Sales method 

  While NCCF  sold about 4,900 tonnes, Nafed sold the remaining 5,300 tonnes through e-NAM. Further, NCCF can sell 1,996 tonnes directly from Lasalgaon in other states, but the remaining 2,900 tonnes were sold by moving physical stock from Nashik to other states and then sold in local mandis through e-NAM. Nafed, on the other hand, moves the entire stock from Nashik through road transport and sells through an electronic platform at local mandis.  “If e-NAM offers a quality-based price search that allows the seller to obtain a quality control certificate from an authorized body and upload it to the portal, then an integrated approach such as turning the warehouse into a place for physical exchange of goods between the buyer and the seller, changing responsibility. The quality of the warehouse manager could be one of the many ways to increase the volume of business to improve,” said the expert.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *