Post-production decisions in agriculture: understanding postharvest storage and marketing decisions of smallholder farmers

This study uses the theory of reasoned action framework to explore smallholder farmers' decisions surrounding grain storage and marketing in seven states of India. The study was conducted during one cropping season. It involved two interactions with the selected farmers: one household visit after sowing the crop and a telephone interview was held after harvesting the crop. The study seeks to understand the influence of different psycho-social factors on the decision of smallholder farmers to adopt storage as a strategic tool to increase their agricultural income from the same yield by leveraging price rises in markets during nonharvest months. Data were collected from 448 smallholder farmers from seven states in India to measure the constructs of attitudes, subjective norms, intention and action in the context of grain storage. Additionally, data on farmers' progressiveness and innovativeness were collected in the study. The decision-model was calibrated using the structural equation modelling procedure. The multi-group analysis was carried out to estimate the moderation effect of farmers' progressiveness and innovativeness in explaining their decision. The study establishes that attitudes and social norms around the deferment of postharvest sales are significant determinants of farmers' intention to engage in grain storage. The progressiveness of a smallholder farmer accentuates the relationship between attitude and intention. There is evidence that the plan to store and market the produce at a later stage does not always convert into actual action. Farmers perceive storage as a risky business due to unpredictability around future prices. It is evident from the study that among positively predisposed smallholder farmers, innovative farmers with high risk-taking proclivities adopt storage as a strategic tool to increase their incomes more than their less innovative peers. The article discusses the policy implications of this study and suggests interventions that could facilitate the farmers to adopt storage as a measure to increase their agricultural income by taking advantage of price rises in markets during nonharvest months.