Agricultural marketing is mainly a state prerogative with the Central Government providing support under\ud
central sector schemes. Starting from the year 1951, various Five-Year Plans focused on the price support\ud
programs through Minimum Support Price (MSP), development of physical markets, on-farm and off-farm\ud
storage structures, facilities for standardization and grading, packaging and transportation. Agricultural\ud
marketing plays a pivotal role in promoting and sustaining agricultural production and productivity, leading\ud
to food security and inclusive growth of the country. A number of external and internal factors such as\ud
globalized markets and urbanization have enforced market reforms. Marketing system improvement\ud
needs to be an integral part of any policy and strategy devised for agricultural development. The current\ud
agricultural marketing system is the outcome of several years of Government support/ interventions. In\ud
India, a number of institutions have been established with a developmental mandate targeted towards\ud
one or more areas of agricultural marketing such as procurement, storage and warehousing, credit and\ud
cooperative marketing