Lok Sabha Question No. 446 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Increasing the Income of Farmers through Digital Platforms
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Smt. Sanjna Jatav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 446

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  JULY, 2025

## INCREASING THE INCOME OF FARMERS THROUGH DIGITAL PLATFORMS

†446.  SMT. SANJNA JATAV:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष और ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a)  the details of the initiatives proposed by the Government to stabilise prices and increase the income of farmers using digital platforms;
- (b) whether the farmers get only one-third of the final selling price of fruits and vegetables while the middlemen grab most of the profit; and
- (c)  if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी

(SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

- (a) to (c): Government in 2016 launched a National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) to enable the farmers to transparently sell their produce to large number of buyers accessing multiple markets electronically.

Farmers Producer Organisations (FPO) have been on boarded onto digital platforms such as e-NAM, ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce), and GeM (Government eMarketplace) to enhance digital market access.

The  Reserve  Bank  of  India  (RBI)  introduced  RBI  working  Paper  series  to  present research in progress of the staff members and are disseminated elicit comments and further debate. Working Paper titled 'Vegetables Inflation in India: A Study of Tomato, Onion and Potato (TOP)' estimates farmers' share in the consumer rupee to be about 33% for tomatoes, 36% for onions and 37% for potatoes. In another RBI's Working Paper 'Price Dynamics and Value Chain of Fruits in India', the farmers' share  in  the  consumer rupee is estimated at around 31 % for bananas, 35% for grapes and 43 % for mangoes in the domestic value chain. The factors such as number of marketing channels, higher marketing cost and margins, and high perishability affects the price realisation by the farmers.

O.I.H.

Together with enhancing production and productivity, Government's priority has been to  take  various  measures  to  improve  marketing  of  agricultural  produce  and  reduce  postharvest losses to ensure remunerative prices for farmers' produce.

Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), support is extended to cold storages in  agri-export  clusters,  at  farm  gate  level,  for  small  and  marginal  farmers  as  well  as  big businesses,  APMCs/mandis to  reduce  post-harvest  losses  and  increase  farmers'  returns. Entrepreneurs,  cooperatives,  PACS,  and  SHGs  are  actively  availing  AIF  support  for establishing cold chain logistics, often integrated with grading, sorting, and packaging units. Till 30.06.2025, 2454 cold storage projects have been sanctioned under AIF with sanctioned amount of ₹8258 crore.

Besides, under the MIDH, for holistic development of horticulture sector,  including reducing  of  harvest  and  post-harvest  losses,  financial  assistance  is  provided  for  various horticulture activities. These include setting up of Pack Houses, Integrated Pack House, cold storages, Reefer Transport, Ripening Chamber etc. The component is demand/entrepreneur driven for which Government assistance in the form of credit linked back ended subsidy is available at the rate of 35% of the project cost in general areas and at the rate of 50% of the project  cost  in  hilly  and  scheduled  areas  through  respective  State  Horticulture  Mission(s) (SHMs).

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