Indian agriculture's structural challenge — 86% of farmers are smallholders with average landholding below 1.1 hectares, operating in fragmented markets with high intermediation costs and limited price information — has persisted for decades despite numerous policy interventions. The price wedge between farm gate and consumer retail prices averages 3.2× for cereals and 5.8× for perishables in India, compared to 1.6-2.4× in comparable middle-income countries, implying that half or more of agricultural supply chain value is captured by intermediaries rather than flowing to producers or consumers. Three policy innovations since 2016 — the e-NAM electronic trading platform, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), and the contract farming framework — represent the most systematic attempt to reform agricultural marketing since the APMC Acts of the 1960s. This study evaluates the impact of e-NAM, FPO membership, and contract farming on farmer income across 2,840 farm households in six states using a quasi-experimental design. e-NAM adoption increases farmer price realisation by 8.4% (p<0.001); FPO membership increases income by 24.6% (p<0.001) through collective bargaining and direct market linkage; contract farming increases income by 48.2% with higher income variability. Combined FPO+e-NAM achieves +34.8% income improvement. The IFPRI collaboration contributes the Agricultural Value Chain Impact Assessment methodology and comparative data from sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia smallholder marketing reforms.
Ramesh Reddy Gopal Krishnaswamy (Fri,) studied this question.
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