Performance of arrivals and prices of major rabi crops in APMC Hinganghat

Abstract:

The present study examined the variability and seasonal behaviour of arrival and prices of Wheat, Jowar and Chickpea, three major rabi crops handled at the Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), Hinganghat, in Wardha district of Maharashtra. Agricultural markets in this region are characterised by sharp fluctuations in the quantity of produce arriving and the price it commands, and understanding the extent and pattern of these fluctuations is essential for improving farmer income and market efficiency. The study was based on twenty years of monthly secondary data (2004-05 to 2023-24) obtained from APMC Hinganghat records and Agmarknet. The coefficient of variation (CV) was used to measure the extent of instability in arrival and price for the first period (2004-05 to 2013-14), the second period (2014-15 to 2023-24) and the overall period, while seasonal indices were computed by the simple average method to identify months of peak and lean arrival and the corresponding price behaviour within the marketing year. Results showed that arrival was considerably more unstable than price for all three crops in every period studied, with Jowar recording the highest arrival instability (up to 146.59 per cent) and Chickpea the lowest, despite handling by far the largest trading volumes. All three crops exhibited a clear inverse relationship between seasonal arrival and price, with arrivals peaking sharply during the harvest months of March to May and prices correspondingly at their lowest during this period, before recovering during the lean months preceding the next harvest. The findings suggest that improved storage infrastructure and staggered marketing by farmers could help reduce the price disadvantage associated with selling immediately after harvest, and that Jowar's increasingly thin and erratic trading pattern may warrant closer market attention.