Lifting the roadblocks on better food marketing in Rajasthan

State regulated market systems and private trading are interconnected aspects of marketing agricultural produce in many developing countries. The state of Rajasthan in India has a long history of regulating its agricultural markets. As private traders have to work within this framework, it affects the prices of crops and the pattern of trade. Researchers at the Institute of Development Studies in collaboration with researchers at IDS-Jaipur and the National Institute of Agricultural Marketing, India, carried out pricing analysis and surveys in 10 key markets in the State. They identified the problems traders face in marketing three of Rajasthan's principal crops: wheat, bajra (pearl millet) and mustard seed. They conclude that high transportation costs and sales taxes are the most important of these obstacles and recommend policy moves to reduce or overcome them.