Marketing Efficiency and Determinants of e-NAM Adoption in Tomato Marketing: Evidence from Dharmapuri District, Tamil Nadu, India

Tomato is an important commercial vegetable crop in India, but its perishable nature and frequent price fluctuations make efficient marketing essential for improving farmers’ income. The Electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) aims to strengthen agricultural marketing through digital trading, wider market access and transparent price discovery. This study analysed tomato marketing channels, price spread and marketing efficiency, and examined the factors influencing farmers’ adoption of e-NAM in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. Primary data were collected from 120 tomato growers, comprising 60 e-NAM users and 60 non-users, along with 25 market intermediaries. Price spread analysis, producer’s share in the consumer’s rupee, Acharya’s modified marketing efficiency measure and a binary logit model were employed. The results showed that the e-NAM channel recorded the highest producer’s share (80.47 per cent) and marketing efficiency (4.33), compared with conventional channels. Awareness of e-NAM, literacy and trust in government policies had a positive and significant influence on adoption, while distance to the regulated market had a negative and significant influence. The findings indicate that e-NAM has the potential to improve price realisation and marketing efficiency for tomato farmers. Strengthening awareness, digital literacy and market infrastructure could further encourage farmers’ participation in the platform.