Agricultural inputs and services are crucial for reducing production costs and improving efficiency in Indian agriculture, which is characterized by smallholders. However, since many farm inputs, especially farm machinery and equipment, are costly, they must be made more affordable for such small producers. Though there has been a recent spread of custom hiring centres, farmers still prefer individual ownership of such machines and equipment for various reasons. Here, the role of markets in facilitating such productive assets comes in, and secondhand tractor markets are one such platform. These markets, which can be treated as institutional innovation, result from the locally felt need as they are neither promoted by any stakeholder nor regulated by the state. This paper examines the organization, functioning, and dynamics of secondhand tractor markets in Punjab with the help of a primary interview survey of major stakeholders, i.e., secondhand tractor buying and selling farmers and the commission agents facilitating transactions between them. It tries to understand the nature and dynamics of this market in terms of participants, their motive for participation, and the implications thereof. It profiles the buyer and seller farmers and agents facilitating the transactions and understanding the exact nature of transactions. It examines the effectiveness of these markets for farmers in accessing tractors and other farm machinery, as well as challenges, if any, and explores possible regulatory or enabling policy provisions to promote such institutional innovations in the state and the country.
