What are the main constraints in transport and marketing of agricultural produce in India?

Even with rising output, Indian farmers often capture a small share of the consumer rupee because of weak transport links and inefficient marketing, causing distress sales and post-harvest losses estimated at Rs 90,000 crore annually.

Transport constraints

• Inadequate rural roads and last-mile connectivity delaying movement to markets.
• Severe shortage of cold storage, refrigerated transport and warehousing, causing spoilage of perishables.
• High freight costs and fragmented, small marketable surpluses raising per-unit logistics cost.

Marketing constraints

• Monopoly of regulated APMC mandis with long chains of intermediaries eroding farmers' realisation.
• Lack of transparent price information and poor bargaining power of small and marginal farmers.
• Absence of grading, standardisation and assaying, and limited access to institutional credit.

Way forward

Strengthening rural roads under PMGSY, expanding cold chains, promoting FPOs and warehouse-receipt finance, and integrating markets through e-NAM and APLM-type reforms can raise efficiency and farmer incomes.