Since the central government undertook a series of reforms in agricultural marketing sector, more options in place physical mandis have come up in different forms (Twitter@FpcMaha)THE UMBRELLA body of farmer producer companies (FPC) in the state, MahaFPC, has partnered with National Cooperative Agricultural Marketing Federation (NAFED) to launch an online mandi for trading agricultural commodities.
Yogesh Thorat, managing director of MahaFPC, said this e-mandi is aimed at allowing FPCs to tap into retail grocery shops in and around Pune for the supply of specific commodities.
Since the central government undertook a series of reforms in agricultural marketing sector, more options in place physical mandis have come up in different forms. Other than eNAM, the electronic platform of National Agricultural Market, private players have also created online platforms for trading agro-commodities.
Thorat said their platform aimed to be different as it would not compete but complement physical markets. E-kisan mandi would operate in a hub-and-spoke model, in which the MahaFPC office in Pune will operate as the hub for 50-odd FPCs in and around Pune, and these FPCs will then collect orders from the online platform and provide the service, he added.
“Unlike other platforms, we will not be retailing commodities like soybean or gram, but the thrust will be on value-added commodities and consumer durables like sorghum, jowar, etc,” he said, adding that along with wholesale traders, MahaFPC would also supply to retail grocery shops in and around Pune through their electronic platforms.
Thorat said in this model, bulk orders would be delivered directly by FPCs at their end, while notional orders would be delivered through MahaFPC hub. “It will also help establish an integrated network of value chain stakeholders for trading through electronic platforms. This initiative will help build capacities of FPOs (farmer producer organisation) for supply chain management, food safety and quality management, and marketing management of agricultural produce,” he said.