Agricultural marketing

FUCTIONS: 
The main functions of the Food Corporation of India are: 
a) To produce a sizable portion of the marketable surplus of foodgrains and other 
agricultural commodities at incentive prices from the farmers on behalf the central and 
state governments 
b) To make timely releases of the stocks to public distribution system(Fair price shops and 
controlled item shops)so that consumer prices may not raise unduly and unnecessarily 
c) To minimise seasonal price fluctuations and inter regional price variation in agricultural 
commodities by establishing a purchasing and distribution network and
d) To build up a sizable buffer stock of food grains to meet the situation that may arise as 
result of short falls in internal procurement and imports 
 
 

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Lecture No 9:
Quality control-Agricultural products-AGMARK-CODEX -need of CODEX
certification- Relevance 
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 QUALITY CONTROL 
To ensure the confidence of consumers, it is essential that grading is done in accordance 
with the standards that have been set. For this purpose, the inspection of the goods at 
regular intervals by a third party is essential.
Inspection involves the testing of graded goods with a view to determining 
whether they conform to the prescribed standards. It ensures quality control. For the 
purposes of inspection, samples of product are drawn at various stages- from the 
manufacturer, the market middleman or the consumer at his door steps- and are tested in 
the laboratory. These inspections are carried out by inspectors appointed by the 
government, and not by a producer or a buyer. 
Regular inspection creates confidence among the buyers. Producers, too, know that there 
is someone who checks the standards of the produce graded by them. This avoids the 
temptation of adopting such malpractices in the grading as mixing of the inferior grade 
produce, etc. after laboratory tests, if the produce is below standards, the licence of the 
grader is cancelled and legal action is initiated aga inst him. 
There were 566 approved grading and/or testing laboratories in the 
country at end of March, 1984. Their number increased to 633 in 1990-91 and further 
to700 in 1991-92. Presently, there are111 state-owned grading laboratories, 549 
laboratories of the licensees (private packers), nine laboratories in co-operative sector and 
49 private and commercial laboratories with a total of 718 approved grading and/or 
testing laboratories in the country which are engaged in the analysis in the analysis and 
determination of AGMARK grades.