Agriculture is the primary livelihood for over 58% of the Indian population and India is also the second-largest manufacturer of wheat and rice to the world.<\/p>\n
In fact, the Government has stated that agriculture sector growth has been up by almost 60% this year, despite COVID affecting the sector in other ways, such as technology and jobs.<\/p>\n
The Government is looking to revive the economy through its primary MSME category – farming and agri-tech. They expect agriculture to add over 0.52% to the economy\u2019s growth in the long term.<\/strong><\/p>\n And to do so, there have been some significant measures introduced by the Government, and certain expectations from the agriculture sector that need to be met.<\/p>\n Imagine not being able to have your morning coffee because production was stalled due to no funding from the Government!<\/p>\n Currently, Indian farmers face a whopping loss of Rs 93,000 crore post-harvest.<\/p>\n The Government recently announced a slew of changes to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. Most of the amendments rely on farmers and agri-businesses switching to an e-commerce market. Some of the initiatives include:<\/p>\n The amendment enables harmonisation of the various taxes that farmers pay to the Agricultural Committee. It ranges from 1%\u00a0 <\/span>in Rajasthan to 8.5% in Punjab. The amendments also further empower farmers to engage with processors aggregators, wholesalers and exporters.<\/p>\n And what better platform for that than e-commerce?<\/p>\n E-commerce paves the way for digital adaptation, which as per the amendments to the Essential Commodities Act will help reduce costs, especially for farmers who are not in a position to bargain.<\/p>\n Earlier, farmers would suffer huge losses when there are the bumper harvest of perishable commodities. With E-commerce and adequate processing facilities offline, a lot of this wastage is reduced. This also removes fears of private investors interfering.<\/p>\n \u201c The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply will lead to harnessing of economies of scale and attract private sector\/foreign direct investment into agriculture sector. It will help drive up investment in cold storages and modernisation of food supply chain.\u201d – Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, for The Tribune<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Farmers who adopt technology will have easier access to streamlined capital online. E-commerce stores pave the way for micro-finance loans available on the platform itself.<\/p>\nFinancial incentives the Agriculture Sector expects from the Government<\/h3>\n
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How e-commerce can save the agriculture sector<\/h3>\n
#1 – Tax saving reforms for agri-businesses<\/h4>\n
#2 – Ease in supply chain management<\/h4>\n
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#3 – Easier access to capital<\/h4>\n
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