A portal with registered nurseries from across India. Go ahead and order your favourite sapling!
An online portal, developed by the National Horticulture Board, has 803 registered nurseries to enable the sale and purchase of fruit, vegetable and spice plants. Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched it recently.
The online digital platform for nurseries was set up so that farmers could access relevant information on plants available in their vicinity. All photos: National Horticulture Board.
Now you can order your favourite sapling from the safe confines of your home! Welcome to a new portal — an online nursery for the sale and purchase of various flowers, fruits, vegetables and spices. Not only this, the portal will also tell you where your nearest nurseries are, give you access to them and provide information about the plants, their availability, the price, etc.
On April 13, Narendra Singh Tomar, the Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare launched a new national nursery portal developed by the National Horticulture Board. So far, 813 nurseries are registered on the National Nursery Portal, along with 205 buyers too. At present, 1,013 species of 63 types of fruit plants, 339 species of 23 types of vegetables, 118 species of seven types of flowers, 206 species of 15 types of spices and 46 species of plantation plants can be purchased on the portal.
The online digital platform for nurseries was set up so that farmers/ other stakeholders could access relevant information on plants available in their vicinity. Through it, nursery operators will be able to display their profiles and put up sales offers, and the buyers will also be able to enquire directly online about their own requirements.
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“It had been a long-standing demand of our farmers for creating such a portal where registered nurseries from across the country can be viewed at one place,” Dinesh Kumar Pal, the deputy nursery director of the National Horticulture Board, in Gurugram, Haryana, told Gaon Connection.
“The nurseries are grouped under several categories on the portal. There are nurseries affiliated to the government institutions and those that are licenced by the agriculture or horticulture board. Unregistered nurseries that have good quality plants also have a space on this platform,” Pal said.
How to buy or sell on the portal
Describing how the portal worked, Pal said, both vendors and buyers could register themselves on the portal at no cost, interact with each other and put in their sale offers. “The portal will require a photograph of the plant on sale and its price. “For instance, if a buyer is looking to buy the Dasheri mango at a certain price, he can directly negotiate with the seller who has it to sell,” Pal explained.
The portal will inform nurseries about market demand. The direct contact with the buyers will enable the nurseries to find a better price for their plants. Interested parties can view tenders, get their nurseries accredited and negotiate with buyers and sellers. There will also be timely advice on the proper upkeep and yield of plants.
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“Our aim is to provide only good quality plants through the nurseries,” Pal said. “Once registering on the portal, a nursery operator will have to provide the complete information about his nursery, such as the full address, the types of plants available,” he stated.