Strengthening of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure
The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare reported significant progress in strengthening agricultural marketing infrastructure through various central government schemes. The National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) electronic trading platform has achieved substantial growth, with 1.89 crore farmers and 2.78 lakh traders registered as of June 30, 2026. Inter-State trade on e-NAM has increased dramatically from 563 MT (₹37 lakh) in 2018-19 to 2,984.3 MT (₹14.28 crore) in 2025-26, with cumulative inter-State trade reaching 28,566 MT valued at ₹83.95 crore. The platform has improved market efficiency, with the average number of trader bids per lot increasing from 2.1 in 2016-17 to 2.8 in 2025-26.
Under the Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), all 10,000 FPOs have been registered across the country. Since the scheme's launch in 2020, these FPOs have achieved a cumulative turnover exceeding ₹20,340 crore, demonstrating their effectiveness in collectivizing farmers for produce aggregation and improving bargaining power.
Substantial infrastructure development has been achieved through multiple schemes. The Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI) Scheme has sanctioned 12,353 storage infrastructure projects with total storage capacity of 369.18 lakh MT and 6,901 non-storage projects over the last ten years. Under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), interest subvention support has been extended to 18,893 warehouses, 3,110 cold stores/cold chain projects, and 2,105 integrated primary and secondary processing units.
The Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) has created approximately 1.76 lakh infrastructure units, including pack houses, cold storages, refrigerated vans, ripening chambers, pre-cooling and processing units. Additionally, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries' Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna (PMKSY) has seen 1,256 projects completed or operational as of June 30, 2026, benefiting approximately 37.76 lakh farmers.
The World's Largest Grain Storage Programme implemented by the Ministry of Cooperation has completed construction work in 313 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), creating storage capacity of 1.80 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT).
NITI Aayog's evaluation reports from 2020 and 2025 have recognized the Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) as a relevant intervention for strengthening agricultural marketing. The reports noted that more than 60% of beneficiaries reported using post-harvest infrastructure and crop processing facilities under ISAM, with recognized improvements in price realization, product longevity, and market appeal through value addition. The evaluation highlighted e-NAM's potential in promoting transparent markets, efficient price discovery, better contract negotiations, and improved access to institutional finance.