Thousands of farmers across Karnataka were benefitting from the state-run e-auction platform, as it was fetching best price for their produce, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday.
"Our farmers are able to auction their produce electronically through mobile phone or computer to the highest bidder for best price on the e-auction platform, which has integrated main market yards to form a single market," he said at a day-long conclave on 'Vision 2020', organised by Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) here.
"We amended the Agricultural Produces and Marketing Committees (APMC) Act to allow storing, grading, supply chain management and processing of farm produce," Siddaramaiah told IACC members, representing Indian and American corporations.
Noting that many states were considering Karnataka's e-auction platform as a role model to replicate, he said a national common market for farm products could be created if all states switch over to electronic mode.
"A paradigm shift in marketing farm produce can transform our farm practices, food processing industry, packaging segment and enhance their exports," said Siddaramaiah.
Inviting investments from the US in backward and forward linkages of agri-business, the chief minister said the state offered investors opportunities to mechanise farm operations, produce high-yielding seeds, transport perishable goods using cold chains and containers to take farm produce to processing centres and retail outlets without loss of quality and texture.
"In every process between afarm and table', we need technologies and to achieve exports at the magnitude you have envisioned, we have to leapfrog in every aspect of our operations," Siddaramaiah added.