2. Role of marketing channels in the sustainability of paddy farmers’ income in India

Agriculture is one of the important sectors in India, employing the majority of the rural population and providing a livelihood. Recent data on National Sample Survey (NSS) -Situation Assessment Survey (SAS) data (2018-19, 77th round) reveals, on average, farmers earn around 10,000 rupees per month. Indian agriculture is also dominated by small and marginal farmers. The cost of cultivation has also gone up with heavy dependence on modern technology. Minimum support price is one of the important instruments which helps in ensuring farmers economic sustainability by providing sustainable income which could cover the cost of production of the farming household. The recent farm bill 2020 has triggered the debate of regulation vs deregulation of agricultural marketing in India, and farmers' demand of implementing the Swaminathan MSP. With this background, by using NSS-SAS, 77th round (2018-19) data of only paddy-producing households, income sustainability is measured by developing different sustainability groups of farmers in terms of their price realization against the cost of production of their paddy crops. Choice of marketing channels being one of the important variables which determines the price realization of the farmers which might affect their sustainability. By using the ordered logit model, the findings suggest that the framers selling through government channels are more likely to achieve higher sustainability as compared to the farmers selling through private marketing channels. Other important variables like farmers having awareness about MSP, higher caste farmers, higher educated farmers, farmers having a higher share of agricultural income, and farmers having a higher share of irrigated land are the determining factors responsible for higher sustainability. There has been a regional difference in terms of the likelihood of achieving a higher level of sustainability. The study highlights the importance of government intervention and regulation in agricultural marketing in India. Government procurement often offers price floors and assured markets, reducing income volatility. Other unobserved factors might influence both the choice of marketing channel and sustainability. Further research is needed to establish a causal relationship.