Govt-mediated contract farming
The 2015 proposal
Government-mediated contract farming between the food-processing industry and farmers, backed by letters of credit and bank guarantees, with sales through the Kisan card.
Where it stands in 2026
The Model Contract Farming Act (2018) enabled it; the 2020 farm laws went further and were repealed in 2021 after a year of protest. The lesson is the project's most important: reforms that appear to bypass mandis/MSP face existential resistance, while options that add farmer choice with safeguards survive.
The open gap
Politically contested; state-level adoption is patchy.
The path to close it
The 2020–21 repeal taught the rule: add farmer choice with safeguards, never appear to replace mandis or MSP. Revive the 2018 Model Contract Farming Act state by state with a registration-and-dispute authority, FPOs as the contracting unit so smallholders keep bargaining power, and price floors referenced to MSP. Keep it strictly opt-in and transparent, and let adoption grow on demonstrated trust.
Sources
- ↗ Dept. of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare (schemes & Digital Agriculture Mission) — Govt. of India
- ↓ Contract Farming: Partnerships for Growth (FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin 145) — FAO, 2001
- ↓ UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Contract Farming — UNIDROIT, FAO and IFAD, 2015
- ↗ Contract farming for improving smallholder incomes: What can we learn from effectiveness studies? — World Development (Elsevier), 2018
- ↗ Contract Farming and Smallholders' Welfare — International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), 2020