Agriculture Marketing in India: Perspectives on Reforms and Doubling Farmers’ Income

Abstract

India’s target of achieving a $5 trillion economy by the financial year 2025-26 needs to be supported by a transformed and reformed agriculture sector, which would significantly improve the income of farmers. It is, therefore, imperative that the agriculture sector should support the milestone by focusing on transformative reforms. The paper examines the critical challenges faced by Indian farmers in the existing agriculture marketing system, while proposing an agenda for agriculture marketing and export reforms for making farming financially sustainable. It underscores the urgency for the development of rural infrastructure and efficient agri-value chains. The paper highlights the need for encouraging small and marginal farm holders to move from subsistence farming to modern farm enterprises. The electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM), is expected to lead to significant increase in income of farmers. Effective implementation of comprehensive agricultural reforms, with a focus on agriculture marketing reforms, could lead to sustainability of Indian agriculture, and facilitate the achievement of doubling farmers’ income by 2024-25, while mitigating agrarian distress.