Ch. Charan Singh National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) came into being on 8th August, 1988 at Jaipur (Rajasthan) with a mandate for Training, Research, Consultancy and Education in the field of Agricultural Marketing. As an apex body of Agricultural marketing in India, the Institute has been playing a vital role as policy advisory body to the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The institute is managed by a Governing Body under the Chairmanship of Minister for Agriculture and an Executive Committee under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation. The aim of the Training Programmes is upgradation of the skills of the existing Agricultural Marketing personnel.
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The programmes cover contemporary topics in the areas of Quality Standards, Post Harvest Management, Contract farming, Agricultural Marketing Reforms, Market led Extension & Risk Management, Food Safety, Information Technology, Women Empowerment, Scientific Storage, World Trade Organization (WTO) etc. During the year 2008-09, institute conducted 50 training programmes. Institute will conduct about 50 training programmes during 2009-10. The Institute has been imparting training to senior and middle level Executives of Agricultural and Horticultural departments, agro industries, corporations, State Marketing Boards, Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees and apex level cooperatives, Commodity Boards, export house recognized by Agricultural and Processed Food Products Development Authority (APEDA), commercial banks and non-governmental organizations.
The Institute has prepared Agricultural Marketing Plans for the development of Agricultural Marketing in a number of States. It also prepares Project Reports for setting up Terminal Markets and other Agri-Business projects. The Institute has prepared a Master Marketing Plan for the Royal Govt. of Bhutan (RGoB) which was completed in 2008. NIAM is also nodal Institution for facilitating the State Governments in preparing the proposals for World Bank concessional assistance under the Multi-State Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MSACP) NIAM has also completed and submitted the report on the Marketing Component of the Assam Agricultural Competitiveness Project in 2008-09.
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Besides these, the Institute has implemented an agreement with USAID for undertaking a programme for Strengthening the Agricultural Marketing System of India (SAAMS). The institute publishes a journal namely, “WATS” covering different aspects of Agricultural Commodity Trade. NIAM conducts applied research on important Agricultural Marketing issues through its own faculty and students. NIAM is conducting Post Graduate Diploma Programme (PGDABM), which is a two-year residential AICTE approved programme. The admission to the course is made through NIAMAT test on all India centers.