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ABSTRACT

Marketing of farm commodities is a important economic activity as it needs to balance the cost and availability of food for consumers with continuous enhanced revenues to the farmers. Despite the Indian farmer`s marketable surplus being as high as 90% or more in the majority of commodities, the profits do not appear to be lucrative. This call for a thorough analysis of agricultural marketing from multiple dimensions. Various challenges in agricultural marketing have been identified by studies on agricultural marketing. These problems can be solved in two ways: first, by creating institutions; and second, by making investments in infrastructure. This article suggests development of marketing institutions. In order to unite farmers, create direct connections between farmers and retailers, processors, and customers, and create transparent and competitive markets. It is the need of the hour that our country should focus on new frontiers and reforms in agricultural marketing for linking the rural farmers to the markets by providing better remunerative prices.

Cite this article:

 

M. Ravikishore, P. Supriya, K. Rama Subbaiah (2022) Nano Urea: Frontiers in Agricultural Marketing: Role, Challenges and Way Forward. Food and Scientific Reports, 3(8):34-38.

1.    Introduction

                Agricultural Marketing in India is intricate and includes both organised and unorganised sector operations.  There are thousands of rural periodic markets, such as ‘Haats’, and more than 7000 government regulated Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), besides initiatives of various private corporate sector, development and cooperative that engage with farming community directly or indirectly.

Agricultural marketing is primarily driven by marketable or marketed surplus. In addition to that, having effective market and marketing mechanisms becomes more crucial. India`s marketable agricultural surplus has exhibited a positive, expanding trend. Prior to the green revolution, Indian agriculture was mostly a subsistence industry. Now, it is a market-driven, commercial industry with the majority of its crops having the potential for export. A vast marketed surplus needs an excellent marketing structure to allow for the quick and efficient transfer of goods from producers to consumers. Farmers and consumer groups require markets as well as infrastructure for storage, transportation, market information, finance, and risk management.

Agricultural Marketing in Modern Era

Agricultural marketing was defined by the National Commission on Farmers (2004) as a process which starts with a decision to produce a saleable farm commodity and it involves all aspects of market structure of system, both functional and institutional, based on technical and economic considerations and includes pre and post-harvest operations viz. assembling, grading, storage, transportation and distribution. This definition emphasises the essential point that the farmers` products must be delivered physically or electronically to the final consumer, who may be a person or a business like a processor or exporter.

Role of Agricultural Marketing

The role of agricultural marketing in economic development classified as a way to increase farm income, broaden the horizontal reach of the market, support and fuel the expansion of agro-based industries, create jobs, boost economic growth, and raise living standards. Thus, agricultural marketing becomes important to meet the nation`s needs for food and nutrition as well as to support the growth of the economy as a whole (Acharya and Agarwal, 2011).

Challenges in Agricultural Marketing:

According to studies, some of the difficulties in agricultural marketing include inadequate farm-level storage and post-harvest value addition, post-harvest credit, and high transaction costs for buyers and processors to interact with farmers. Small scale individual production has a negative impact on marketing economies for farmers. These problems can be solved in two ways: first, by creating institutions; and second, by making investments in infrastructure. Infrastructure and Institutions are not completely separate and have synergistic impact on outcomes.

Framework to address the major gaps in Agricultural Marketing

Agricultural marketing has two key stakeholders.

1. Farming community at one end and

2. Consumers (end consumers, retailers, processors and exporters) on the other end.

Farmers usually face problems such as small individual stacks for sale, a lack of market awareness, a lack of post-harvest infrastructure and financing, and a lack of market intelligence. They have little negotiation power and are therefore dependent on the trader. This ultimately leads to lower price realization. Additionally, market fragmentation reduces competition and increases the likelihood that the APMC will become a cartel, putting farmers at risk. The farmer thus receives inflated prices. Individual farmers` lots may be combined to create larger lots, which would strengthen their ability to negotiate together. Providing farmers the tools they need, such as knowledge of the market, buyer specifications, current and predicted prices, buyer locations, etc. can help them make wise decisions about what to cultivate and sell.

On the other hand, the consumer segments are diverse and include shops, factories, traders, exporters, and other stakeholders. While there are many different types of needs, there are a few generalised problems that the entire consumer community faces, such as indeterminate supply, uncertain quality, and transport challenges in dealing with a lot of small farmers directly, and high prices at the point of purchase because of many middlemen and a poor logistics infrastructure. However, because India is a country with millions of tiny and marginal farmers, doing business with many of them is a difficult challenge that purchasers must face in this situation. As a result, buyers rely on a network of intermediaries that bring little value while also increasing costs.

Therefore, in order to aggregate farmers and their produce, establish direct lines of communication between buyers and farmers, and increase value rather than cost along the supply chain, interventions are necessary. These actions should also boost agricultural earnings and lower consumer costs. These initiatives can be broadly divided into institutional and infrastructure initiatives.

 

Implementing the Market Reforms

The implementation of market reforms is a key component because it is the means by which any plan can be effective and achieve its objectives across the board. We can deduce two main objectives from the architecture described above: to raise farmer returns and to lower buyer costs. While infrastructure and institutions are the vital means to achieve this, we elaborate how these two means can be put in place.

 

 

1. Market Integration

The notified area of an APMC`s clause has caused markets to become fragmented, which has had an unintended detrimental effect on the marketing system`s competitiveness.  Through an internet trading platform, the commodity exchanges for futures trading of commodities established a single, national market for numerous agricultural commodities. Despite having quite distinct goals, they provided a model for how a unified market may be developed for the entire nation. Thus, the idea of the e-National Agriculture Market was created (e-NAM). In order to establish a pan-Indian electronic market for farm products, it entails merging all of the country`s currently operating APMCs.

2. Market Access to Farmers

As it was already mentioned, there is a compelling justification for market integration. However, a single, seamless, nationwide market for agricultural products may not be the only answer to all of a farmer`s marketing issues. For common goods that do not differ much in terms of quality, are known and accepted in all of the accessible forms in different parts of the country, nation-wide market places may be a useful move. It should be kept in mind that farmers frequently produce specialised goods with distinct tastes or qualities that are in high demand from a small group of consumers, such as exporters or processors. Therefore, facilitating a farmer`s access to markets should be the main goal.

3. Market Infrastructure

According to statistics, horticulture, livestock, and fisheries are three high value sub-sectors that are driving India`s primary sector growth. The infrastructure needed to manage the volume and calibre of agricultural produce is insufficient and unsuited to deal with the changes.

Ø  To start with the storage facilities are inadequate. Lack of proper storage facilities leads to post-harvest losses and produce wastage.

Ø  The warehouse quality needs to be raised. Even while new warehouses are being built more scientifically, especially when supported by government programmes, there are still a lot of outdated warehouses that require modernization.

Ø  Another crucial area that needs immediate focus and investment is cold storage and cold chain management.

Ø  Grading and certification infrastructure is the other component of market infrastructure that has been neglected.

Ø  Market information is the final component of infrastructure that is frequently disregarded. More complex information about the market is required than just price information.

 

4. Value Addition

Agricultural commodities` prices can be increased and reduction in post harvest losses may be achieved by adding value in different means. Kumar et al., 2022 reported that loss of 23 million tonnes of food cereals, 12 million tonnes of fruits and 21 million tonnes of vegetables are reported each year, with a total estimated value of Rs 240 billion. Verma and Singh (2004) estimate that the overall losses in vegetable production can reach up to 25% of the total. Significant losses occur as a result of inadequate transportation infrastructure, a lack of expertise, bad management, inadequate market facilities, or negligent produce handling on the part of producers, market intermediaries, and consumers (Gauraha and Thakur, 2008; Singh et al., 2008).  Farmers` returns can be increased by performing even simple value addition tasks like cleaning and grading of grains, sorting of fruits and vegetables, and primary processing tasks like chopping, dicing, and packing of fruits and vegetables (Kumar et al., 2018). If the goal of doubling farmers` earnings is to be achieved, value addition is a crucial step that cannot be ignored.

New Frontiers in Agricultural Marketing

1. e-Commerce in Agricultural Marketing

E-commerce, to put it simply, is the exchange of money as well as the buying and selling of goods and services online. A well-known instance of e-commerce in India`s agriculture marketing sector is E-NAM. A few resourceful individuals have also exploited e-commerce in agriculture marketing. Big Basket, a well-known grocery home-delivery company, accepts online orders from customers and ships their sorted and cleaned foods, fruits, and vegetables.

Possible breakthroughs in Agricultural Marketing through e-Commerce:

• E-commerce presents advantages to both consumers and sellers where in, it allows customers to locate a wide range of products and services at competitive costs while shopping from the comfort of their homes or places of employment.
• For sellers, by eliminating most middlemen and inventory, sellers are able to pass on lower expenses to customers in the form of lower prices. This also gives them the chance to target customers across the nation, which would have been practically impossible with a brick and mortar store.
• E-commerce will undoubtedly benefit agricultural marketing in both the B2B and B2C markets.
• This cutting-edge business plan is a new development in agricultural marketing and is ideally suited for the sale of exotic fruits, vegetables, grains, spices, organic foods, and so on.
• It might bring manufacturers of specialised goods online and give them the chance to promote their goods to a large, if not international, consumer base.
• FPOs can benefit from embracing e-commerce as and when they begin to focus on certain fresh and processed items and engage in branding efforts (Yadav et al., 2020; Mukherjee et al., 2020).

2. Technology in Market Information Systems

Decision making in a market-driven environment requires knowledge about the market. Many private sector businesses and government agencies realized the value of market information and price forecasting and began providing prices to farmers through information systems. Domestic and Export Market Intelligence Cell (DEMIC), was one of the crucial market information services operated by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Under this concept, agricultural university scientists would gather information on crop acreage, output, market arrivals, and pricing in various marketplaces and provide a forecast for the price of various crops. Farmers received these forecasts by SMS, newspapers, KVKs, and radio, which assisted them in making decisions regarding planting, harvesting, storing, and selling (Urs, 2012).

Policymakers have not given enough attention to market information. So it makes sense that farmers were able to produce enormous amounts despite being dissatisfied with the low prices. It is the need of the hour to create an agricultural market information system that takes advantage of both public and private sector strengths. In other words, a technological foundation is necessary for a market information system.

3. E-Trading - A non–conventional marketing channel neutralising price risks

Enhancing the farmers’ access to reliable and efficient marketplaces is one of the key factors in raising their revenue. By eliminating the information asymmetry between sellers and buyers, the electronic market is intended to provide price transparency and give farmers access to price discovery. In addition to that, it frees farmers from their reliance on commission brokers, who are the traditional link between them and consumers. Farmer producer Companies and cooperatives have developed as sustainable aggregation vehicles for small and marginal farmers to participate directly on futures platform to realise better prices and manage risk through market information.

Conclusion

The field of agricultural marketing is uncertain and complex. The country`s agricultural production is diversified, and the majority of small and marginal farmers adds a level of complexity for which there are no simple solutions. By implementing marketing reforms and frontiers in agricultural marketing that aim to liberalise the market and rationalise supply chains so that both farmers and consumers benefit, the regulatory framework attempts to address issues with lengthy supply chains, an excessive number of intermediaries, and cost escalation. Finally, a favourable regulatory environment must be established for agricultural marketing in India coping with the dynamic changes in agriculture and allied sectors.

References

Acharya, S. S., and Agarwal, N. L. (2011). Agricultural Marketing in India (Fifth), New Delhi: Oxford & IBH Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd.

Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), (2020). Agriculture Marketing: An Overview and Way Forward, A Knowledge paper on Agricultural Marketing

Urs, A. (2012). How DEMIC helps farmers sow, sell crops. Online: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/article3935697.ece

Gauraha, A.K. & Thakur B.S. (2008). Comparative economic analysis of postharvest losses in vegetables and foodgrains crops in Chhattisgarh. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 63(3): 376

Kumar, S., M.L. Roy, and Mukherjee, A. (2018). Marketing behaviour of vegetable growers in Uttarakhand hills. Journal of Community Mobilization and Sustainable Development 13 (1): 68-74.

Mukherjee, A., Singh, P., Maity, A., Shubha, K., & Burman, R. R. (2020). Enhancing livelihood security of dairy farmers through farmers’ producer company: a diagnostic study of Bundelkhand region. Range Manag. Agrofor, 41, 156-167.

Singh, R.B., Kushwaha, R.K. & Verma, S. K. (2008). An economic appraisal of post-harvest losses in vegetable in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Journal of Agricultural economics, 63(3): 378.

Verma, A. & Singh, K. P. (2004). Post harvest loss of vegetables: a study. Haryana Journal of Horticultural Sciences; 33(1/2):152-153.

 The print media https://theprint.in/india/what-is-nano-urea-indias-21st-century-product-aiming-to-revolutionise-world-agriculture/673151/,  Accessed on 21-06-2021.

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Torres-Olivar, V., Villegas-Torres, O. G., Dominguez-Patino, M. L., Sotelo-Nava, H., Rodriguez-Martinez, A., Melgoza-Aleman, R. M., Valdez-Aguilar, L. A. and Alia-Tejacal, I. (2014). Role of nitrogen and nutrients in crop nutrition. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology, 4(1B), p.29.

Kumar, U., Mukherjee, A., Singh, D. K., Koley, T., Shubha, K., Ray, R. K., & Sarkar, S. (2022). Yield loss in major food crops of Eastern India: A Review: Yield loss in major food crops. Journal of Agri Search, 9(2), 123-128.Yadav, V. K., Mukherjee, A., Kumar, U., Pan, R. S., Chakrabarti, A., & Sarkar, P. K. (2020). Farmers Producer Organizations: Boon for Small and Marginal Farmers. AGRICULTURE & FOOD: e-NEWSLETTER. 

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