New Delhi, April 22 -- The agriculture ministry has made Aadhaar authentication mandatory for individuals and farmer groups seeking to avail benefits under the e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) scheme.

According to the ministry, the move is aimed at improving transparency, efficiency and service delivery in the agri-marketing ecosystem. Around, 17.9 million farmers and over 4,400 farmer producer organizations (FPOs) are registered with e-NAM.

The government expects the integration of Aadhaar with the e-NAM scheme to accelerate digital adoption in mandis and make market transactions more secure and accountable.

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While authentication is mandatory, those with...