For G. Ravichandran, a groundnut farmer from Ponnankuppam village in Villupuram district, the COVID-19 pandemic could not have come at the worst time. After harvesting around 1,000 kg of groundnut, Mr. Ravichandran could not sell his produce for over 25 days for want of a good price.
It was at that time he uploaded the details of his crop on the ‘Uzhavan e-market’ feature of Uzhavan application, run by the State Agriculture Department. “After uploading a photo and details of the crop, I received a few phone calls from traders. I chose the best offer and within five days I sold my produce,” he said.
Introduced on May 1 amidst the lockdown, the e-market feature of the Uzhavan app has helped farmers to sell their produce at a good price by providing an online platform that connects the farmers with traders directly.
A seller, who is usually a farmer, can upload pictures and details of their crop. Similarly, the buyers can register to choose the crops they are interested in and the district that they would like to purchase from.
“The main aspect is that both the sellers as well as the buyers can access the contact number of each of them and carry forward with their transaction. The government just provides a platform for facilitating the trade and is not directly involved in the transaction,” said P.Venkatachalapathy, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Information Technology and ATMA).
Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the feature was introduced after farmers from several parts across the State echoed that they could not sell their produce at a good price during the lockdown.
“Our aim was to help the farmers from remote locations to sell their produce, especially perishable commodities. The farmers need not depend upon regular traders to buy their produce. Through this e-market, they can negotiate with traders from different districts to get the best deal for their produce,” he said.
There is also a menu which displays the real time market price of agricultural commodities, said Mr. Venkatachalapathy. “The prices are reflected based on the data procured from 277 regulated markets and 189 Uzhavar Sandhais across the State,” he said.
Since the introduction of the feature, over 30,000 kg of maize, 80,000 kg of paddy, 10,000 kg of small onions, 28,000 kg of green grams and 7,200 kg of groundnut are among the long list of produce that were sold. Fruits like watermelon, banana, jackfruit, musk melon were also sold, added Mr. Venkatachalapathy.
“This feature will be highly useful even after the end of the lockdown as only some farmers are being able to sell their produce at mandis in the view of following personal distancing norms,” said A. Ravindrankumar, a farmer from Aranthangi in Pudukottai district who sold coconuts through the platform.
