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Agricultural Marketing – Basic Facilities for Farmers
In order to have best advantage in marketing of agricultural produce the farmer should enjoy certain basic facilities:
(i) The farmer should have proper information about the future demand of a particular commodity in the market, so that he can plan earlier to sow the seeds of those crops which can get him a fair return.
(ii) Most of the villages are not linked with the mandi or business centres, which are the only means of transport for a farmer. Hence, a proper rural network with all-weather roads are necessary to develop the farmers/rural areas.
(iii) Remote/small village farmers are dependent on other small towns/cities for sale and purchase of outputs or inputs. An efficient road transport system is necessary for all types of rural people/farmers
(iv) The farmer should have proper storage facilities for storing his agricultural produce.
(v) He should have holding capacity, in the sense, that he should be able to wait for times, when he could get better prices for his produce and not dispose of his stocks immediately after the harvest when the prices are very low.
(vi) He should have clear information regarding the market conditions as well as about the ruling prices; otherwise, he may get cheated.
(vii) There should be more organized and regulated markets, where the farmers will not be cheated by the middlemen or intermediaries.
(viii) The number of intermediaries should be less so that the middlemen’s profits are reduced. Which as a result, will increase profits to the farmer.
(ix) The farmer can easily get institutional credit facilities for agriculture and allied activities.
(x) In the event of failure of crops, due to drought or other natural calamities, he should get financial security and crop insurance for his crops.
Agricultural Marketing – Pre-Requisites for Effective Agricultural Marketing: Storage, Finance, Information, Co-Operatives and Transport