Friday 17 March 2017

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Agriculture has been the life blood of the Indian economy. It is not
because of the fact that its contribution is lower than that of services in
the GDP. It is because that many of the services have been emerged due
to modern agriculture. The importance of agricultural marketing in the
economic development can be understood through following reasons.


(a) Optimum use of resourcesA good marketing system leads to the optimum use of resources
and output management. An efficient marketing system should be
developed so that we can scale down the losses arising out of inefficient

processing, storage, and transportation. As a result the income of the
farmers increase, and that result in his increased demand for industrial
products.


(b) Decreasing the channel membersAn efficient marketing system ensures higher levels of income for
the farmers by reducing the number of middlemen and malpractices
adopted by them. It avoids the commission based system in which
farmers are not involved. Take the case of ITC in which ITC through
e-choupals, have removed all the middle man and the benefits are
directly trickling down to the farmers. They are able to get adequate
prices for their crops. This again results in an increase in the marketed
surplus and income of the farmers which resultant into more demand of
the other products and ultimately leads to the economic development of
the country.


(c) Impact of green revolution and modern farmingThe Indian farmer has been shifting from traditional forming
system to modern farming system by leaps and bounds and this credit
goes to greater resolution which was responsible for providing modern
equipments to the Indian farmers.


(d) Contribution to national GDP growthAlmost two-thirds of the population still dependent on agriculture
and they contribute around 28 per cent of the GDP through this sector.
To sustain the growth of non-agricultural sector, resources have to be
obtained from agriculture sector. Besides physical resources, it also
provides financial resources for investment in the economy.
 
 
(E) Widening of marketsLike the securities markets, commodities markets have also started
working in India. These exchanges have started giving opportunities to

the farmers to trade their crops anywhere in the world. This helps in
increasing the demand on a continues basis, and thereby, guarantees a
higher income to the producer. This system helps the farmers in planning
their production in accordance with the needs of the economy.

(F) Better standard of livingBetter marketing system leads to the better standard of living of
the farmers. This system provides more disposable income in the hands
of the farmers and that income is spent by the farmers to avail and enjoy
modern facilities like telephones, bikes, TV, clothing, and even cars and
computers. Therefore, modern farmers are able to enjoy better standard
of living besides contributing to the growth of the economy.

(G) Infrastructure developerAn improved and efficient system of agricultural marketing helps in
the growth of agro-based industries and stimulates the growth of other
areas. This has resulted into investments in infrastructure in India.

(H) Earning foreign exchangeThe country is not only self-sufficient in the field of agri-products
but also exports these products. In the year 2001-02, 5.8 billion dollars
products were exported. This contribution was only from sea products.
Rice and wheat exports are around 10 million tons. Export of
horticultural produce has also shown strong growth rate besides cotton
and jute.

Today, when India is a progressive member of the WTO and the
world is hading towards globalisation, the significance of agriculture

marketing assumes greater importance. The growing urbanisation has
also increased the importance of marketing of foodgrains. The new class
of rich capitalist farmers have emerged who cultivate the land with the
profit motive. They go for all luxuries in life and this is a kind of signal
where we can say that if we develop a sound marketing system, it will
lead to more and more economic development of the country.
 

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