Marketing practices of potato growers – A study of Malwa Region of Madhya Pradesh

Efficient and modern post-harvest marketing practicesplay a critical role inincreasing the participation of farmers both in input as well as output markets by commercializing their activities, subsequently improving their ability to engage efficiently in these markets. Better post-harvest management of agricultural produce through sorting, grading and value addition, if adopted by farmers can lead to theirenhanced economic standing, increase their incomes and their overall welfare. To better understand the local prevalence of such practices, a survey of potato growers from Hatod and Mhow tehsils of Indore district was done after applying stratified sampling technique. Using the pre-tested structured questionnaire, personal interviews were conducted with farmers from the identified areas. The analysis revealed few interesting insights such as despite possessing knowledge about value addition of produce resulting into higher income, very few farmers apply the same. Similarly, very few farmers have associated themselves with FPOs and contract farming, hence were unable to leverage collective and better bargaining. Also, just 29 per cent of surveyed farmers had availed various government schemes, price initiatives and subsidies i.e., government’s policy interventions are unutilized for a large section of the farmers. Very few farmers store their produce and prefer to sell it off instead of waiting for a favourable price. These aspects are acting as hinderances towards income growth avenues for many farmers and can potentially turn things around significantly if more and more farmers start deploying these practices.