Effective Marketing Channels of Paddy in Keerapalayam Block in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Agricultural marketing plays a vital role in agricultural development which is a pre-requisite for development in other sectors and for the overall development of the economy. The agricultural marketing is defined as the operations involved in the movement of food and raw materials from the farmers to the final consumer and the effect of such operations on producers and middlemen (Singh 1984). In India, there exists an elaborate and inter-connected system of agricultural produce markets through which the produce flows from the producer to the consumer. The market system in India comprises 30,000 rural primary markets, 7,000 wholesale assembling markets at the secondary stage and terminal distribution markets in every urban city or town (Ramaswamy 1995). An efficient marketing is a sine qua non in the economy of all countries, in general and of agricultural countries, in particular. It definitely exerts a powerful influence on country’s production and consumption pattern; it plays a prominent role in regulating supply and demand; and it helps in the elimination of duplication of services and wastages of valuable resources. The present study is confined to the study of marketing system of food crops namely paddy in Cuddalore District. Hence, the present chapter makes an attempt to study the marketing system in terms of storage, marketing channels and the like. Further, an attempt has been made to anlayse marketing cost, marketing margin, price-spread and marketing efficiency. For better exposition, the present study is organised under the following headings: Marketable surplus of paddy; Storage, cost of storage and Net gains earned by storage; Market Structure; Marketing cost, Marketing margin and Price-spread; Marketing Efficiency and Marketing problems