New Delhi, Mar 26 (KNN) Indian farmers are going digital with the government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform.

As many as 5,630 farmers' producer organisations (FPOs) across states have joined ONDC to sell their agricultural products online.

These FPOs can now market and sell a wide range of produce including rice, pulses, honey, millets, mushrooms, spices and value-added products through the e-commerce platform.

Over 3,100 product varieties are currently listed on ONDC.

The move aims to empower small and marginal farmers by giving their FPOs direct access to digital marketing, online payments, and B2B/B2C sales channels.

ONDC is being promoted as an alternative to global e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart.

Since April 2023 when FPOs started joining, over 8,000 have registered on the platform. In the coming months, all government-registered FPOs will be on boarded to sell via ONDC.

Some FPOs have already started tasting success. Rajasthan-based Rich Returns FPO sold Rs 3 lakh worth of chana, garlic papad and millets through ONDC this year. "We've achieved Rs 4 lakh sales turnover on ONDC this fiscal," said its CEO Hari Om Nagar.

BASIX Krishi Samruddhi, supporting 80 FPOs across states, said their ONDC sales crossed Rs 50 lakh this year with a Rs 1 crore target for FY25. "We are leveraging ONDC for product marketing now," said COO Tapas Pati.

To enable FPOs on ONDC, the government is supporting digitisation of product catalogues, shipping label generation, identifying logistics partners and facilitating digital payments.

The network has over 30 buyer/seller apps and logistics providers like Mystore, PayTM, Magicpin and Delhivery.

Over 8,000 FPOs have been registered under the central sector scheme titled “Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs” launched in 2020 with budgetary provision of Rs 6,865 crore.

Under the scheme, FPOs are provided financial assistance up to Rs 1.8 million per FPO for a period of 3 years. In addition, provision has been made for matching equity grants up to Rs 2,000 per farmer member of FPO with a limit of Rs 1.5 million per FPO. It also entails a credit guarantee facility up to Rs 20 million of project loan.

It collaborates with agencies like SFAC to support FPOs facing market access challenges.

Officials now state that the government must extend support to enable these FPOs to sell their produce on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform used for public procurement by central and state agencies. This would further expand market access for the farmer collectives.

(KNN Bureau)