Economics · Ch 10 — Rural Economy
Agricultural Marketing
Agricultural Marketing
Agricultural marketing refers to all the activities involved in moving farm produce from the farmer's field to the final consumer — assembling, grading, storing, transporting, and selling the produce, along with the price discovery that happens at each stage.
Problems farmers have historically faced. Left to an unregulated, informal marketing chain, Indian farmers have long faced several recurring problems: a lack of adequate storage (warehousing) facilities close to the farm, which often forces farmers into distress sales — selling produce immediately after harvest, when prices are typically lowest, simply because they cannot afford to hold and store the crop while waiting for better prices; the presence of multiple layers of middlemen between the farmer and the final consumer, each taking a margin, which sharply reduces the share of the final consumer price that actually reaches the farmer; a lack of accurate market information, leaving farmers unable to judge whether the price offered locally is fair; and non-standardised weights, grading and malpractice in some unregulated local markets.
Marketing chain comparison — fewer layers, more of the price reaches the farmer:
| Chain type | Path from farmer to consumer | Intermediary layers |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional (unregulated) | Farmer → Village trader/middleman → Wholesaler → Retailer → Consumer | 3 |
| Regulated market / cooperative marketing | Farmer → Regulated market (mandi) or cooperative society → Consumer/Processor | 1 |
The set of activities — assembling, storing, grading, transporting and selling — involved in moving agricultural produce from the farme …
The forced sale of produce by a farmer immediately after harvest, at low prevailing prices, due to lack of storage capacity o …
A market for agricultural produce operating under government regulation, with standardised weighing and a transparent price-discovery mechanism, intended to protect farmers from mal …