Assessing the Role of Kisan Rail on Agri-Supply Chain in India: Insights from Mixed-Method Research

Agriculture plays a significant role in the country’s economy still there are inefficiencies in logistics of sector which hinder farmers' profitability. The Government of India (GoI) has launched the Kisan Rail (KR) scheme in 2020 which aims to address these challenges by providing an affordable and accessible rail transport system for agricultural produce. This study evaluates the effectiveness of KR scheme in Madhya Pradesh. The evaluation uses four variables namely accessibility, affordability, awareness, market access, and income enhancement to assess the effectiveness of KR scheme. The convergent parallel mixed-methods approach was used and qualitative data was analysed using techniques such as word cloud & triangulation. The quantitative analysis was done using Pearson correlation and fractional logistics regression. The findings revealing that KR significantly improves affordability, market reach, and income stability, especially for small and medium farmers. However, infrastructure gaps, first-mile connectivity issues, scheduling inefficiencies, and inconsistent policy implementation hinder full adoption. Additionally, limited awareness and outreach, particularly among marginal and female farmers, restrict utilization. The study highlights KR’s potential in reducing post-harvest losses and bypassing intermediaries but calls for stronger government intervention, infrastructure upgrades, dynamic pricing models, and digital integration to maximize impact. Future research should explore KR’s long-term sustainability using longitudinal studies and advanced econometric models to enhance India’s agricultural supply chain.