Centre calls two-day meeting of state agriculture ministers on e-trade in Hubli

NEW DELHI: The Centre has called a two-day meeting of state agriculture ministers on July 9 in Hubli, Karnataka to discuss faster implementation of the online national agriculture market.

Last week, the government had approved a scheme for setting up of an online national agriculture market by integrating 585 wholesale mandis across India.

"We want to implement the online agri-market at the earliest. The meeting will outline the benefits of online agriculture trading and address the concerns of the state governments," a senior Agriculture Ministry official told PTI.

The meeting will focus on state governments to bring in mandi reforms for smooth and early implementation of the online system for agriculture trading, the official said.

For integration with the e-platform, states will have to put in place an e-auction platform for price discovery of agricultural produce, provide a single licence that is valid across the state and a single-point levy of market fee.

The meeting will be held in Karnataka as the state government has already integrated 13 mandis and has put in place its own online agriculture trading platform.

The state agriculture ministers will also be taken on a field-visit to showcase how farmers in Karnataka are benefiting through the online trading platform, the official said.