Profile characteristics of farmers of e-NAM

Abstract

National Agricultural Market (e-NAM) is a pan-India electronic trading portal that seeks to network existing Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) through a virtual platform to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities. A study was conducted to know the profile characteristics of registered farmers of e-NAM in Duggirala market of Andhra Pradesh. A total sample of 120 farmers was randomly selected from six mandals viz. Kollipara, Bhattiprolu, Kollur, Tenali, Mangalagiri and Duggirala of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. The data were collected with pre-structured interview schedule. Exploratory research design was followed for the study. Profile characteristics of respondents viz. Age, Education, Land holding, Social participation, Mass media exposure, Extension contact, Risk orientation, Market orientation, Income orientation, Telescopic faculty and Economic motivation were selected for the study. The detailed analysis of the study revealed that majority of the respondents were middle aged (63.33%), educated up to high school (34.17%), had small farm size (29.17%), had medium level of social participation (71.67%), mass media exposure (55.83%), extension contact (65.83%), risk orientation (63.33%), market orientation (60.00%), income orientation (49.17%), telescopic faculty (56.67%) and economic motivation (62.50%). There is every need to improve the profile of the respondents to make them understand completely about e-NAM, improve their knowledge and effective utilization of e-NAM.