FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE CHANGE IN THE RURAL MARKET

1.Green revolution
The substantial attention accorded to agriculture during the
successive five-year plans has helped in improving agricultural
productivity. Adoption of new agronomic practices, selective
mechanisation, multiple cropping, inclusion of cash crops and
development of allied activities like dairy, fisheries and other commercial
activities have helped in increasing disposable income of rural
consumers. Over 75 percent villages in India have been electrified. There
is also a shift from rain dependence to irrigation. Farmers are getting
high return for their cash and food crops. In the whole process, the
dependence on seasonality has reduced, and in return there has been
increasing disposable income. By observing this scenario, India’s one of
the biggest giant Hindustan Lever Ltd. has entered into rural market for
more penetration through the operation ‘Bharat’. Since December 1999,
HLL has reached out to 35,000 villages, 22 million households and spent
Rs. 20 crore. This has been one of the largest sampling exercises in
recent times conducted by a big business house.

2.Emerging Role of Bio-Tech. in Indian Agriculture
SectorIt is evident from the facts that Indian agriculture is trailing in
terms of yield when compared with leading countries of the world.
Countries like USA, Canada, Israel and Germany have achieved high
yield in agriculture production but countries like India, Brazil and Nigeria
are having agriculture yield much lower than international average. The
major difference created in this respect is the use of the applications of
bio-technology. Bio-technology has vital role to play in so far as
enhancement of agriculture yield is concerned. For instance the yield of
wheat in USA per hectare is almost three times more than that of India
and the yield of sugar cane is two and half times more if compared with
the Indian yield of sugar cane per hectare. These advance countries have
been making an extensive use of bio-technology whereas in developing
countries the concept is not yet very popular. When we are living in the
era of globalisation everything is becoming globally competitive and
therefore, we cannot live in isolation in terms of agriculture yield also. We
have to make use of the applications of the bio-technology in an
agriculture sector both in terms of generating quality seeds and cropping
the same in compliance with the theories of biotechnology. Our farmers,
who are normally not aware of this fact have to be educated and the
responsibility lies on the shoulders of researchers, scientists,
administrators and the policy makers of the country. It will provide more
discretionary income in the hands of the rural farmers.

3.Rural communicationAround 50 percent of the villages are today connected by all
weather roads and can be accessed throughout the year. But there are
states, which are almost 100 percent connected with the metal roads.
Road networking besides enhancing the mobility of rural consumers has
increased their exposure to products and services. By watching such a
scenario in these areas Korean consumer durable companies have
decided to look beyond their noses. They are now placing their bets on
rural markets. Two giants namely LG and Samsung have already made
their strategies for entering into rural India. As per survey conducted by
Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) 77 percent of the villages are
covered by TV network. Now even villages are going for dish antennas
and they have already been enjoying exposure to various products
through advertisements. All the villages are about to be connected with
telephone facilities in the near future and already there are some villages,
which are connected with this facility. Apart from this, internet is not a
distant reality. Recently Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, the minister for
communication has announced that in the coming days there would be
100 percent connectivity through telephones in the rural areas. Seeing
these types of opportunities and interests of the ruralites, Tata cellular
has already entered into rural India by making its first entry into Andhra
Pradesh. Tata cellular has created India’s largest cellular ‘corridor’ to
provide connectivity to non-metro and rural centres.

 4.Development programmesThe five-year plans have witnessed massive investments in rural
areas in terms of number of development programmes implemented by
the central and state Government. These programmes have generated
incomes to ruralites and helped them to change their life-styles. Some of
these programmes are:• Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP- Package
Programme)

• Intensive Agricultural Area Programme (IAAP)

• High Yielding Varieties Programme (HYVP- Green Revolution)

• Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP)

• Small Farmers Development Agency (SFDA)

• Hill Area Development Programme

• Operation Flood I, II and III (White Revolution)

• Fisheries Development (Blue Revolution)

• Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)

• Jawahar Rojgar Yojna (JRY).

These programmes are related with agriculture and allied activities
but there are certain other policies which are specifically meant to raise
the standard of the rural people in the field of health, education,
sanitation etc. After the beginning of economic reforms in 1991, the
Government has been giving special attention to the rural India by
providing certain developmental schemes for these areas. Some
announcements were made by the finance minister in the Union Budget
2000 to enrich the existing programmes and to initiate some new
schemes for the rural areas like Kisan Credit Cards, Micro Finance and
Pardhan Mantri Gramodyog Yojna etc. In the latest budget (2004) focus
has been on agriculture and rural development.

Since special attention is being given in the union budget through
some schemes, and due to progress of economic reforms, poverty is
declining at a faster pace and there is a substantial increase in the per
capita income of the people especially in case of majority of the states of
Indian union. For example per capita income of the Punjab is Rs. 20,606
followed by Maharashtra Rs. 19,207, Haryana Rs. 18,171, Gujrat Rs.
15,723, Tamilnadu Rs. 13,248 and Karnatka Rs. 11,578 and if we see
the average of 14 states it is Rs. 10,886 at a growth rate of 4.4 per cent.
Hence, we can see that today changes are taking place rapidly in all
walks of life and rural areas are no exception to this. Improved
infrastructure facilities, economic liberalisation, renewed emphasis on
agribusiness and small industries, fast changing agricultural technology,
scope for commercialisation of agriculture, greater budgetary provision
for rural people are few reasons to mention. Moreover, various sociocultural, psychological and political aspects of rural life are also changing. 
Rural people today are less fatalistic, less attached to religious
beliefs, getting more individualistic, achievement-oriented and aspiring
than before. All this has opened up new vistas for the marketers of
millennium at least in the states, which are leading in per capita income
with a sustained growth, like Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu,
Karnatka, Gujrat, Delhi and Western UP etc.