Data | Most farmers sold to private traders in 2019, new survey data shows

Data also show that a majority of the farmers were unaware of the Minimum Support Price regime

Between 2013 and 2019, the share of agricultural households (HHs) that sold their produce in APMC mandis reduced sharply, while those that sold their produce to private traders increased significantly. Data show that a majority of the farmers were unaware of the and procurement agencies. Among those who were aware, a significant share did not sell their produce to procurement agencies due to lack of infrastructure. More importantly, the share of households that were aware of MSP but did not sell to procurement agencies because they received better prices was negligible.

The table depicts the % point change in the share of HHs that sold their produce to various agencies in Jan.-June 2019 period compared to Jan.-June 2013. Sharp reductions can be observed in HHs that sold to APMC mandis, across crops. HHs that sold to private traders/markets increased while the share of sale to procurement agencies remained stagnant.