Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce and Related Constraints

Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce are crucial for moving agricultural products from farms to markets and a variety of urban neighborhoods. What are the major constraints related to agriculture marketing and transportation? How is it resolved? Read on to know more.

The Indian economy largely relies on the agricultural sector. It significantly affects India’s entire socioeconomic system.

In addition to being crucial for ensuring everyone has access to food, agriculture also can have an impact on the development of the secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy through its forward and backward connections.

Proper storage, better transportation facilities, and good marketing have crucial roles in the overall development of the agricultural sector.

Marketing of Agricultural Produce

Agricultural marketing is a decision-making process that starts with the choice to create a marketable farm product. It incorporates all institutional and functional parts of the market structure of the system and is driven by technical and financial factors.

• It is the main method of moving agricultural products from farms to markets and a variety of urban neighborhoods.
• The process of agricultural marketing entails acquiring, storing, preparing, shipping, and delivering various farmed supplies across the nation.
• Agricultural marketing, which is a part of the larger marketing system, refers to all of the actions, organizations, and regulations producers take to acquire farm inputs and transport agricultural products from farms to consumers, manufacturers, and exporters.
• It should offer customers food of acceptable quality at prices they can afford, remunerative pricing for farmers, and sufficient margins for middlemen to ensure their continuing involvement in the trade.
• The growth of the agricultural industry as a whole depends on agricultural marketing.
• Paying farmers fairly and profitably for their agricultural output gives farmers financial security.
• Additionally, it guarantees that food goods are accessible and affordable to consumers, which lowers inflation.
• The flow of agricultural goods from producer to consumer is handled by an extensive system known as agricultural marketing.
• Agriculture marketing is carried out in India through several central government agencies, including the Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices, the Food Corporation of India, the Cotton Corporation of India, the Jute Corporation of India, etc.
• Additionally, there are organizations dedicated to the marketing of rubber, tea, coffee, tobacco, spices, and vegetables.

Importance of Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce

Agriculture and transportation, Both of these sectors of the economy, are dependent on one another, as are these two industries.

• The marketing of agricultural products is significantly impacted by dependable and effective transportation infrastructure.
• Agricultural products differ from industrial goods in that they have distinctive characteristics, making transportation availability and quality equally important.
• For instance, agricultural products are bulky and perishable. Almost all of them are consumable goods.
• The objects must be protected from damage during transit with proper packing and transportation.
• On the other hand, the farmer may maximize his or her revenues if efficient transportation infrastructure is in place and agricultural output is handled with care.
• However, low unit pricing and a robust agriculture value chain may be maintained via an efficient transportation and marketing system.
• Transporting goods affordably allows producers to make a profit while also making them available to customers.
• Contrarily, if transportation costs are high, not only will local marketing suffer but so will the possibility of exporting agricultural products to countries with more efficient transportation.
• Transport creates a market for agricultural goods, enhances communication between geographical and economic regions, and creates new areas of economic focus.
• Over 3 million employees will be created as a result of an investment of Rs 89,375 crore in the development of reliable post-harvest storage and transportation.
• Low-quality rural transportation will affect productivity, income, and level of living.
• The primary focus of agricultural marketing is the purchase and sale of agricultural goods.
• Any agricultural product’s ability to be sold depends on several variables, including the product’s current demand and storage space accessibility.
• Better marketing for farmers can guarantee higher pricing for the produce and protection from price swings.
• Manufacturers want farmers to supply them with the most affordable, highest-quality produce possible so that they can sell it for a profit.
• The best products and services from the manufacturer or farmer, at the most affordable pricing, are what traders and retailers seek.
• Customers are looking for high-quality goods at reasonable pricing.
• A successful marketing strategy will lessen the need for government purchases at MSP, aiding in fiscal consolidation.

Transportation constraints for agricultural produces

The main obstacles to moving agricultural products in India include a lack of infrastructure, support, and logistics connectivity to guarantee farmers’ timely delivery of their yield to markets.

• India has very poor transportation facilities. Only a few villages are connected to mandies by railways and pucca roads.
• Produce must be transported on cumbersome conveyances like bullock carts.
• Such transportation cannot be employed to convey products to locations too far away, so the farmer must discard his harvest in neighbouring marketplaces, even if the price he receives there is quite poor. With regards to perishable goods, this is much more true.
• Lack of transportation choices that can go farther distances more quickly, but are highly expensive and time-consuming; lack of services like mobile cold storage for fresh perishable products that cannot be stored at production centres yet requires rapid transfer.
• Given the perishable nature of the fruit, there have been restrictions on its marketing connected to direct marketing, assurance of greater returns, reliance on the weekly haat, and wholesale market known as mandi.

Actions Taken to Improve Transportation

Kisan rails are the first multi-commodity trains in the world.

• These chilled freight trains will help in the quick delivery of perishable agricultural products like fruits and vegetables to markets.
• These will make sure that agricultural products are transported across the entire nation.
• The air transport of agricultural commodities proposed by Krishi Udan.
• As a result, value realization (on agricultural items) would greatly increase, especially in the northeast and tribal areas.

The Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) programme aims to help with the marketing of agricultural products as well as the international portion of freight.

Kisan Rath mobile application (app) to allow transportation of foodgrains and perishables during the lockdown.

Constraints of Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce

The primary flaws of the agricultural marketing system are addressed here.

Insufficient Warehouses

• The settlements lack adequate warehouse facilities. In order to store his goods, the farmer is forced to employ trenches, mud vessels, “Kutcha” storehouses, etc. These illogical storage techniques result in a great deal of waste.
• The amount of produce that goes bad and cannot be eaten by humans is about 1.5%. As a result, there is a significant increase in supply in the village market, which makes it difficult for the farmers to obtain a reasonable price for their goods.
• The situation has improved to some extent after Central Warehousing Corporation and State Warehousing Corporation were established.

Lack of Standardization and Grading

• Different types of agricultural produce are not adequately graded. The “Dara” sales practice, in which a large quantity of the produce of all grades is sold in a single lot, is the one that is most frequently used.
• As a result, the farmer producing superior goods cannot be certain of receiving a higher price. Therefore, there is little motivation to use superior seeds or create superior kinds.

Existence of a Large Number of Middlemen:

• The agricultural market has a very extensive network of middlemen, which significantly reduces the share of farmers.

Mistakes in Unregulated Markets

• The country still has a sizable number of unregulated markets. Arhatiyas and brokers take advantage of the farmers’ ignorance and illiteracy to defraud them through unscrupulous methods.
• Farmers must pay the arhat (pledging charge) to the arhatiyas, the “tulaii” (weight charge) for weighing the produce, the “palledari” (other miscellaneous types of allied work) to unload the bullock carts, the “garda” (for impurities in the produce), and several other unspecified and undefined charges.

Lack of Market Information:

• It is frequently impossible for farmers to learn the exact market pricing in various markets. As a result, they agree to pay whatever the traders offer.
• The government often broadcasts market prices on radio and television to address this issue. The news publications also inform farmers of the most recent pricing adjustments.

Inadequate Credit Facilities:

• Indian farmers try to sell their products as soon as the crop is harvested even if the prices are quite low at that time due to their poverty.

Steps taken to improve Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce

eNAM

To integrate all regulated wholesale produce marketplaces through a pan-India trade site, the government built the electronic national agriculture market (eNAM).

AGMARKNET

It is an e-governance platform that makes it easier to generate and transmit pricing, as well as commodity arrival information from agricultural produce markets, and to swiftly and transparently disseminate such information online to farmers, consumers, dealers, and policymakers.

Kisan Credit Card Program

Term loans are offered for agricultural requirements.

Formation and Promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)

This is to encourage specialization and better processing, marketing, branding, and export of agricultural produce. FPOs will be supported within the “One District One Product” cluster.

MIEWS Portal

Market Intelligence and Early Warning System to give farmers advice on how to avoid cyclical production and an early warning in cases of gluts.

Read: Agricultural Marketing Reforms: Model APMC Act and NAM

Recent legislation related to the Storage, Transport and Marketing of Agricultural Produce

Recent laws governing the storage, transportation, and marketing of agricultural products

The Centre recently passed three laws about agriculture, even though this is a State topic because trade and commerce are under its purview. As follows:

Farm Services Act and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement Act of 2020:

outlines contract farming, in which farmers produce crops under contracts with corporate investors in exchange for a price that is mutually agreed upon.

Promoting and Facilitating Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce Act 2020 :

liberates farmers by allowing them to sell wherever they want.

Amendment to the Essential Commodities Act of 2020:

to strike potatoes, onions, grains, pulses, oilseeds, and edible oils off the list of vital goods.

Conclusion

The largest industry in our nation is agriculture, followed by transportation. The national economy and these two businesses both rely on one another. Road transportation is essential for the distribution of agricultural products because it is the primary method of moving agricultural products from farms to markets and different urban neighborhoods. The farmer’s earnings may be maximized if effective transportation infrastructure is in place and agricultural output is handled carefully.

Article written by: Aryadevi E S