PM Modi launches online agri-market. Nothing new, say experts

Movement of crops is the problem

Former Member of Planning Commission Prof Abhijit Sen said there was nothing new in the scheme and that similar efforts have been on for some time. You can take a lot of electronic initiatives but the real problem, Sen noted, is moving crops from one place to another without the permission of the mandis. He was of the view that a national agricultural market can not be established unless you can get states to agree on movement of goods.

Ashok Desai, noted economist and former advisor to the Union finance ministry, too, said he wasn't impressed with the scheme. According to him, this was not the way to go about it, since e-markets are already there in the country and haven't done well. But the government has made no effort to understand what the shortcomings.

Citing the commodity exchanges as an example, Desai said they haven't expanded much and only certain companies have benefited. There should first be a proper study of what went wrong and why it always remained an under-developed market, which the government hasn't done, he added.

A WTO-like situation among states?

Dr GV Ramanjaneyulu, Executive Director of the Secunderabad-based Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, was of the opinion that the scheme will further reinforce India's agricultural market as a buyers' market, in which traders will be benefited and not farmers. 

He told Catch that if the e-market will operate on an inter-state basis, then it will lead to development of acrimonious relationships between states, just as what Wold Trade Organisation has done to trading across the world. 

Dr Ramanjaneyulu explained that the cost of cultivation varies across the country because of which traders will prefer buying from places that will have lower costs. 

He noted that contrary to government's claims, this will not lead to competitiveness as farmers who have incurred high costs due to several factors will not get the right price and will lose out. 

He suggested that for the scheme to succeed, the government must introduce protection systems for such farmers and in the long term, strive for reducing the cost of production in agriculture across the country.

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