Telangana Plans AI-Powered Digital Market Yards to Transform Agricultural Marketing – Munsif News 24×7

Join WhatsAppTelegram ChannelFollow FacebookSubscribe YouTubeHyderabad: The Telangana government is planning a major transformation of agricultural marketing by introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered Digital Market Yards, aiming to establish a transparent, efficient and farmer-friendly marketing system that could serve as a national model.Agriculture, Marketing and Cooperation Minister Thummala Nageswara Rao, along with IT Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu, chaired a high-level review meeting with senior officials to discuss the proposed initiative.The ministers directed officials to study successful digital agricultural marketing practices implemented across the country and develop an integrated AI-driven ecosystem suited to Telangana’s requirements.The proposed system will digitise the entire agricultural marketing process, including farmer registration, produce quality assessment, electronic bidding, transparent price discovery, weighing, payments and digital gate passes.The initiative aims to minimise manual intervention, prevent irregularities, improve institutional accountability and ensure fair and remunerative prices for farmers.During the meeting, the ministers also reviewed the progress of the Koheda Integrated Fruit Market. Officials were instructed to initiate the tendering process within a week and complete Phase-I construction by March 2027. The project aims to establish an internationally benchmarked fruit marketing hub.Director of Marketing Rahul Raj and other senior officials attended the meeting.India has already introduced digital agricultural trading through the Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), which connects agricultural markets and facilitates transparent trading. However, challenges such as middlemen’s involvement, delayed payments, inadequate digital infrastructure and limited technological awareness continue to affect farmers.Telangana’s proposed AI-powered market yards could build upon these existing initiatives by integrating automation, real-time market information and digital transactions into a unified platform.The initiative represents a promising step towards modernising agricultural marketing. However, its success will depend on effective implementation, reliable infrastructure and farmer participation. The government should prioritise digital literacy, transparent price determination, timely payments and accessible grievance redressal mechanisms. Technology must ultimately translate into better market access and higher incomes for farmers, rather than merely modernising market infrastructure.source