Abstract
Agriculture remains a pillar of India's economy, but farmers continue to confront challenges in market access, price transparency, and delayed payments via traditional mandis. The rise of digital agri-commerce platforms, such as AgriBazaar, has altered agricultural trade by allowing for direct farmer-consumer contacts, realtime price information, and timely payments. This study examines the progression of Indian agri-commerce from traditional mandis to digital platforms and assesses AgriBazaar's influence on farmer income and welfare. The study compares traditional and digital systems based on secondary data from government papers, scholarly journals, and platform publications in terms of market access, price discovery, transaction speed, technology utilization, and policy support. The findings show that AgriBazaar boosts income (+157%) and wellbeing (+183%) while reducing dependency on middlemen. Despite challenges such as digital literacy, infrastructure gaps, financial constraints, and cultural resistance, opportunities for training, connectivity, and government initiatives highlight digital agri-commerce's transformative potential for improving farmer livelihoods and increasing economic efficiency.
Keywords: E-Commerce, Digital Agriculture, Farmer Welfare, Market Access, AgriBazaar
References
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