Book Launch & Policy Dialogue

Getting Agricultural Markets Right

Date: 10th June 2026 (Wednesday)
Venue: Silver Oak Hall, India Habitat Center, Delhi

Agenda
09:30 – 10:00 hrs : Registration and Welcome Tea/Coffee

INAUGURAL SESSION
10:00 – 11:00 hrs : Welcome Remarks by
Dr Shekhar Aiyar, Director & CE, ICRIER

Welcome Remarks by
Mr Ashishkumar Chauhan, Managing Director & CEO, NSE

Setting the Context by
Dr Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

Book Release and Remarks on the topic by Chief Guests
Dr Ashok Lahiri, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Dr S Mahendra Dev, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister

Special Remarks: Dr. Ramesh Chand, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER, Former Member NITI Aayog

Book Presentation on “Getting Agricultural Markets Right” by Dr Raya Das, Fellow, ICRIER

11:00 – 11:15 hrs : Tea / Coffee break

SESSION 1: POLICY AND MARKET REFORMS IN INDIAN AGRICULTURE: COMMODITY SPECIFIC PERSPECTIVES
11:15 – 12:15 hrs : Session Chair:
Dr Ashok Gulati, Distinguished Professor, ICRIER

Speakers:
• Mr Sanjay Aggarwal, Assistant Director General at ICRISAT and Former Secretary, MoAFW
• Ms Shikha, Joint Secretary, Department of Food and Public Distribution
• Mr Sanjiv Rangrass, Director Zetwerk, Former CEO Agri Business, ITC Ltd
• Dr PK Joshi, Former Director, IFPRI
• Mr Abinash Verma, Former DG, ISMA
• Dr Samarendu Mohanty, Former Asian Regional Director International Potato Centre, Professor Jayashankar Telangana Agricultural University

SESSION 2: RISK-MANAGEMENT, FPOS, DIGITALISATION, AND ROLE OF AI IN AGRI-MARKET TRANSFORMATION
12:15 – 01:30 hrs : Session Chair: Dr. PK Joshi, Former Director IFPRI

Speakers:
• Dr. Arun Raste, MD & CEO, NCDEX
• Dr Smita Sirohi, ICAR-NIAP National Professor
• Shri Nirupam Maherotra, Director BIRD, Lucknow
• Dr Hulas Pathak, Head & CEO, Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, RKVY Raftaar Agribusiness Incubation Centre
• Mr. Ranjith Mukundan, CEO, Stellapps
• Mr. Vilash Shinde, FPO leader Sahyadri FPC
• Nitin Puri, Founder and CEO, KisaanSay

01:30 – 01:45 hrs : Open Discussion & Comments from the Floor

01:45 – 02:00 hrs : Closing Remarks and Vote of Thanks by
Dr Tirthankar Patnaik, Chief Economist, NSE

02:00 hrs onwards : Media Briefing followed by Networking Lunch

About the Book

This book comprises of 14 chapters, beginning with an overview of India’s agricultural marketing structure and the agriculture commodity derivatives market in India. The introductory chapter of the book outlines the background, scope, objectives and the methodological framework of the study. Chapter 2 undertakes a macro perspective of agricultural marketing structure in India through marketing policies and institutional reforms analysis. This chapter traces the marketing channels and price realization of agricultural commodities across states to understand the dynamics of agriculture marketing in India based on the latest large-scale agricultural household survey of Situation Assessment Survey, NSS. Chapter 3 explores the role of the agricultural derivatives market in achieving price discovery and risk management. The next six chapters deal with commodity specific studies on the structure and efficiency of agricultural markets. Chapter 4 extensively examines the marketing structure and evaluates the rice-wheat price policy in India. Chapter 5 deals with the marketing structure and government intervention in case of sugarcane markets. Chapter 6 explores the market dynamics, policy evaluation of maize crop in India. Chapter 7 explores the marketing structure of cotton, the role of cotton corporation of India, price dynamics of raw cotton and causes of decline of futures market of cotton in India. Chapter 8 focuses on the potato market structure of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, covering price dynamics, risk management analysis and the role of contract farming in price realization of farmers. Chapter 9 examines turmeric’s market structure in India, covering its global and domestic production, trade patterns, price seasonality, spatial integration, and value chain efficiency. It assesses the relationship between spot and futures prices to evaluate the role of futures markets in price discovery, and discusses marketing channels for better farmer price realization. Chapter 10 undertakes case studies on deepening of Farmers’ Engagement in Commodity Derivatives Market through FPOs. Chapter 11 explores the role of agri-tech startups and FPOs in getting agricultural markets right through a case study approach and analyses nine case studies on Agri-tech and FPOs. Chapter 12 looks at the transformative role of digitalization in agricultural trading and commerce in India, focusing on the evaluation of e-NAM and the potential of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Chapter 13 focuses on the role of AI and block chain technology to make the agricultural commodity value-chain more efficient. Finally, Chapter 14 presents the way forward and provides some broad policy suggestions on how to get the agricultural markets right in India.