Title: Paddy prices and marketing agencies in India: an empirical analysis of effectiveness of public procurement
Abstract: Ensuring remunerative prices to farmers through price and non-price interventions by the government is an essential component of sustainable development of agriculture in India.This paper identifies market and non-market factors responsible for higher price realisation by farmers over the government-determined minimum support price (MSP).Our findings show that small and marginal farmers (with less than 2 hectares of land) in the states with low quantum of procurement are more likely to sell below MSP to local private traders.However, the probability of receiving higher prices increases if they shift from private traders to wholesale markets (mandis) and government agencies, and this is much higher in states with higher levels of procurement.The probability of better price realization also improves with increase in land size and access to institutional credit.