INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND REVIEW

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1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND REVIEW FARMERS PREFERENCE AND PARTICIPATION IN VEGETABLE TRADE IN PRIVATE WHOLESALE MARKET AT NASHIK Sumit Chopade 1, Ruchira Shukla* 2 1 Student, ASPEE Institute of Agribusiness Management, Navsari Agricultural UniversityNavsari, Gujarat Associate Professor, ASPEE Institute of Agribusiness Management, Navsari Agricultural ABSTRACT UniversityNavsari, Gujarat Terminal Markets (wholesale markets) will be established in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The markets are linked to a number of collection centres and provide state-ofthe-art facilities for grading, transportation, storage, domestic marketing and exports.terminal Market concept has been conceptualized to give more remunerative returns to the farmers from NHM by reducing post harvest losses of the fruits and vegetables of the farmers and reducing the middlemen. Terminal Markets will be established in the big cities and these markets will be linked to the production areas by means of collection centres. The terminal market would operate on a Hub-and-Spoke Format wherein the Terminal Market (the hub) would be linked to a number of Collection Centres (CC) (the spokes). The perishable horticultural produce will be cleaned at the collection centres and by removing the waste at the Collection centres it will be transported to the terminal markets. Terminal Markets and the Collection centres will be connected by means of reefer vans thereby reducing post harvest losses. It is proposed that horticultural produce arriving in the terminal market will be graded and by pre-cooling, it will be stored in the cold storage. The produce in the terminal market will be auctioned by way of electronic auction system. Export of horticultural produce is also expected from the terminal market. It is proposed to establish modern marketing infrastructures like electronic auctioning facility, pre-cooling, cold storage, ripening chambers, grading packaging facilities, processing units and other allied infrastructures like banks, post office etc. Keywords: Market operations, Vegetables, farmers, Tomato and Onion. INTRODUCTION A private company has initiated the market operations at Nashik, Maharashtra from January 2009 & have been successfully able to attain around 25,000 MT s of commodities including Pomegranate, Grapes, and Tomato. In addition pilot testing of Vegetables was carried out in Nov 2009 especially for Cole crops like Cabbage & Cauliflower. With these successes the market has recently started Vegetable trade in its premises. In the previous commodities the unique strength of the company in this business has been extensive backward linkages it has established with the farmers with its rigorous exercise extended by the Promotional teams *Corresponding Author 229

2 both through Village Promotions & Toll gates vehicle diversion. In the context of opening new Vegetable trade in the private market, it has been a necessity to understand the needs of the Farming community, understand their priorities & preferences & in turn to draw their acceptance to newly established Private Market. In the past the focus of Private Market at Nashik has been on a single commodity basis i.e. Grapes, Pomegranate & Tomato. But with the inception of Vegetable market which comprises up of a basket of vegetable commodities which requires pooling up of variety of produce from various farm gates in order to ensure continuous supply of vegetable produce in order to fulfill the requirements of the Traders demand. A.P.M.C market at Nasik, nearby markets at Ozhar & Pimpalgaon which are the main competitor for Private Market taking a considerable share of the Produce. It is therefore necessary to convince the farmers to try and adapt to the opportunities at the newly operational Private Vegetable Market. The above mentioned factors throw a major Challenge to Private Market to successfully Publicize, Promote & create awareness amongst the farming community. Keeping all these issues in mind, a study was conducted at the premium market with the following objectives: OBJECTIVES 1) To study the preference of markets by vegetable farmers in Nashik district and the constraints faced by farmers in their respective selling markets. 2) To study the awareness and farmer s perception regarding the private wholesale market. 3) To identify the important factors influencing farmers participation and the farmers expectations regarding private wholesale market. METHODOLOGY To fulfill the aforementioned objectives of the study following methodology were adopted. For the purpose of the study, Primary data was collected through personal interviews of the Focus Group i.e. Vegetable Farmers & Farmer Groups. Secondary data was collected from Internet, Journals, magazines & books. Judgmental sampling was carried out the study for the identification & short listing of the Villages. Snow Ball Sampling was used for the selection of Farmers in the Villages. 350 Farmers were surveyed from three Taluka namely Nasik, Niphad & Dindori for the fulfillment of objective no. 1. Total 35 Villages in the three Talukas were selected for the survey (10 Farmers per Village X 35 Villages = 350 Farmers).Another 50 Farmers were surveyed from Private Vegetable Market for the fulfillment of objective No.2 and 3. Questionnaire with both open and close ended questions was used as a survey tool for conducting the interviews. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Cropping Pattern Of Surveyed Vegetable Farmers Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 230

3 The cropping pattern of the Vegetable farmers reveals that out of total 350 potential vegetable farmers surveyed, 28% of the Area is under Cole crops namely Cabbage and cauliflower & Carrot, 26% is by Tomato, then 17% by Cucurbits including all Gourds, 11% by the leafy vegetables, and remaining 19% is by the other vegetables. Preferred Selling Market In the Nashik region there are three main APMC s where farmers generally carry their vegetable produce namely Nashik APMC which is the main market for vegetable and is operational round the clock and has highest arrivals in all categories of vegetables, similarly Ozhar APMC which is a sub yard of Pimpalgaon APMC handles considerable amount of vegetables usually in lower volumes and Pimpalgaon APMC which is the main Market for Tomato and Onion. Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 231

4 The above mentioned graph illustrates that out of the total surveyed 350 vegetable farmers, it was found that 82% carry their vegetable produce to Nashik APMC which is the most preferred Market among vegetable farmers because of well developed Buyer profile in the market and more No. of Traders & Commission agents, 8% carry their produce to Pimpalgaon APMC they are mostly Tomato and Onion farmers as only these commodities are traded at this Market, 8% carry their produce to other markets and 2% carry there produce to Ozhar APMC,as this Market has arrivals in lower quantity & few no of traders available for buying the produce. Other Preferred Selling Market Leaving apart the APMC s of the Nashik, Ozhar and Pimpalgaon there are some other market preferred by the farmer for the vegetable trade and have the considerable 8% preference share. The other preferred market are as follows: Surat APMC (34%) has the largest share. Some farmers send their produce directly to the Surat or Mumbai market themselves or in organized farmer groups. Some of the private traders especially in the Tomato procure the produce directly from the farmer based on their relationship out side the APMC`s most preferably in important junctions of the villages. These private traders have the 24% share. Private market at Nasik is preferred market for the 21% respondent out of the Other Preferred markets. Reliance (9%) is also a preferred buyer by the farmers for the sale of the vegetables at Reliance Fresh. They have their Procurement unit in the Chitegaon Phata in Niphad Taluka. Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 232

5 Frequency of Visit to Market Among the Farmers who visit the market themselves for the sale of the produce, Large Number of Farmers (56%) of them Visit to the Market Twice in a Week (56.57%) followed by the (40.57%) of the Farmer visit to market on a daily basis. Very Few Farmers Visit to the market once in a Week (1.71) or Thrice in a week (1.14). The frequency of market visit by a vegetable farmer depends upon the following factors like: Nature of vegetable Commodity Grown: Farmers Growing Cabbage, Cauliflower & leafy Vegetables visit market daily. Farmers Growing Green Vegetables like Gourds, capsicum, Pikador & other green vegetables visit the market twice a week. Leafy Vegetables Carried to market everyday during days of High auction rates, But in cases of low auction rates farmers prefer to carry on alternate days. Proximity of the Market Availability of Labors Transport facilities in comparison with other farmers. 5. Satisfaction with respect to Preferred Market Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 233

6 An attempt was made to find constraints of the vegetable farmers visiting their respective preferred markets,and in turn to get over those lacuna filled by provision of such missing facilities in Private Market,350 farmers were surveyed in order to find out their real aspirations, constraints, limitations. Out of the total respondents most (68%) are satisfied with their preferred market. Remaining 32% of the respondents were unsatisfied with their preferred Market because of the various reasons.these 32% of the Farmers who are Unsatisfied with their respective preferred market which are an indication to Private Market to provide such missing facilities to these unsatisfied farmers in Private Market in order to tap them.. Farmers satisfied with the preferred market Out of 65% of the satisfied farmers who are satisfied with their respective preferred markets, many farmers have indicated more than one factor to indicate multiple factors of satisfaction towards their respective preferred market. 95% of the satisfied Farmers Surveyed has indicated that proximity to the market is a core factor for their preference of the market. 71% of the farmers are Happy with the Price Discovery through auction prices from the preferred market, which is in turn dependent upon No. of Traders & competition in the market.37% farmers like Number of the traders in the preferred market. 27% Farmers have the relationship with the Commission agents & Trader; henceforth they prefer to visit the corresponding market. Farmers Unsatisfied With Preferred Market. Out of 32% of farmer who are unsatisfied with their respective preferred markets, 89% farmers are getting poor services and 88% of farmers are facing less transparency,54% of the Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 234

7 respondents are not getting payment as per the schedule and 4% respondent facing improper grievances handling. These above mentioned Factors if improvised by Premium Market can create an opportunity for a new farmer base and can improve the arrivals. Awareness regarding private market Awareness regarding Private Market Yes 38% No 62% The above exhibit illustrates that the awareness among the respondents towards Private Markets functioning, it was found that 62% of them were aware about existence of Private Market and 38% were unaware about Private Market. Some of aware farmers are not aware of the exact name of the market. But they know the location and activities of the Vegetable Trade or activities of tomato and pomegranate trading in the past season.most of the Farmers know this Market by the name of Premier Market(Marathi), Adgaon Market, Patra Market, Private Market/Khazgi Bazaar(in Marathi), New Market/Navin Market(in Marathi) and Dalimb Market (in Marathi meaning Pomegranate Market). Awareness regarding Vegetable Trade in Private Market Awareness regarding Vegetable Trade in Private Market Yes 43% No 57% The graph above illustrates that the awareness among the respondents about the Vegetable Trade in Private Market. It was found that 43% of them were aware about the Vegetable Trade in Private Market. Remaining 57% were unaware about it. Few farmers were aware about the vegetable trade in private market but they were confused whether it is private or public market, some people also have confusion if it was a sub yard of Nasik A.P.M.C. Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 235

8 Medium used to gain Agri related information The above exhibit illustrates that the medium used by the respondents to gain Agri related information, the respondents use more than one medium to gain the information. 99% of the farmers have access to Newspaper for Agri related information followed by 98% each by Television and Input dealers.the next preferred medium for Agri related information is 97% by adjoining farmers similarly with other medium but least access is through Mobile SMS as this service is offered by limited number of service providers. Even though very few farmers access Agri related information through Mobile SMS, Yet most of them have indicated that they would be interested to have Free SMS facility on Updates of Market Rates. Private Market has a good opportunity to Prioritize the Promotional media in accordance with the preferences of the farming community to provide Agri related information especially market related information. Source of Information on Vegetable Trade in Private Market Source of Information on Vegetable Trade in Private Market Village Promotions Word of Mouth Telephonic calls Toll Gate Promotion Highway Visibility 16% 10% 2% 2% 70% Out of the 50 Farmers surveyed for the source of information on the Vegetable Trade in Private Market, majority of them nearly 70% of them said the source of information was from Word of Mouth of the vegetable trade, the other ancillary reason for the word of mouth is an cumulative effect of the Village promotions performed by the Promotion team of Private market. Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 236

9 As the market is visible from the National highway No.2 it converts around 16% of the farmer s towards Private Market. About 10% respondents are diverted towards the market due to the Promotion carried out by the promotion team in the villages. 2% farmers are aware of the Private Market through the telephonic calls. Promotional team of the market call to these vegetable farmers and a comprehensive database is prepared.remaining 2% are aware by the toll gate promotion. Visit to Private market in the last season Visit to Private Market in Past Season Yes No 4% 96% In the last season the trading activity of the pomegranate, grape berries & tomato were carried out in Private Market.Out of the total 50 respondent 96% of the farmers hadn t brought their produce to the market, because of the following below mentioned reasons: Majority of Grape Berry & Tomato sold to Traders in local Trader settlements Very few Vegetable farmers in the area grow Pomegranate. Remaining 4% are the regular farmers who visited Private Market in the last season who carried Tomato & Grape Berry. It shows that most of the farmers are new from this season in Private market for the vegetable trading. Ranking of Private Market on various parameters Private Market (Ranking) Parameters Rank average Rank Proximity Short Auction Time Immediate cash payment Low Congestion Fast Unloading 4 5 Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 237

10 On Proximity parameter, Farmers ranked it 1 st as the Location of Private Market is accessible to the Major Production belts of Niphad & Dindori. Low congestion was Ranked 2 nd as Private Market location has a wide circulatory area, and being new it incorporates easy movement of the Produce & sale. Short Auction time was ranked 3 rd as the time taken for auction at Private Market is hardly 3 Hours from the time the farmer carries the produce to the market. Immediate Cash payment was ranked 4 th as the Farmers get their cash paid on a daily basis. Fast unloading is also an activity where majority of farmers say there should be an improvement in Unloading activity as soon as the auction is finished. Interested in Opportunities at Private Market Interested in Oppurtunities at Private Market 52% 34% 2% Farmers groups Extension services 12% Promotional offers/schemes Information on Auction Prices In terms of provision of soft services on the backward end to the farmers, it was tried to investigate the kind of the opportunities the farmers would be interested which create the win-win situation among farmer and market. So the suggestions were taken from the respondent farmers: Majority are of the farmers (52%) said they would like to get information on auction prices of the commodities from the different market by various mediums such as Mobile SMS, News Paper. Call Center etc. 34% of the remaining farmers like to get Extension Servicesinformation about the new farming practices, to increase the quality and production of the produce. 12% farmers interested in the promotional offers and schemes such as higher arrival of the day or of the week. And remaining very few farmers nearly 2% of the farmers are interested in the farmer groups. Suggestions for Improvement in Private Market Suggestions for Improvement in Private Market 57% Increase Traders 26% 13% StandardizeIncrease Auction Vegetable Timing Basket 4% Increase Labours Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 238

11 In order to provide the better facilities to the farmers, the suggestions were taken from the regular farmers who have been visiting Private Market on a regular basis to improvise it. More than half (57%) have mentioned that there are very less trader in the private market. So there is not the healthy competition between the traders and they are not getting the maximum prices. So the market should make efforts to increase trader participation.nearly 26% of the farmers are feeling that the auction timing is not opportune & feel that the Auction time should be standardized. Nearly 13% of the Farmers requested for increasing Vegetable Basket to Cole Crops & Leafy vegetables. Expectations from Private Market regarding infrastructural facilities The farmers have put upon their expectations starting from Input Shop to food court to cold storage to Grading Facility to Farmers Rest House.10% of the Farmers had no expectations, they have responded that it doesn t matter to them with modern infrastructure & facilities. 67% Expectations from Private Market 4% 13% 4% 7% 2% 2% Input Shop Price Food CourtCold StorageGrading Farmer RestPremium Information Display Facility House Krishi Manch Among the 90% of the farmers who have shown willingness to Modern infrastructure & facilities provided by Private Market the following are their expectations mentioned below: Majority of the Farmers around 67% of the farmers have opted for Input Shop as 1st Expectation in Private Market. Followed by Food court as 2 nd expectation by 13% of farmers and Grading Facility for Tomato as 3 rd expectation by 7% of farmers. So in Total 87% of the Farmers are have the following three expectations: 1. Input Shop 2. Food Court 3. Grading Facility CONCLUSION The arrivals in private markets depend upon two Factors: Bringing new vegetable Farmers who carry their produce into Private Market and retention of regularly visiting Vegetable Farmers to the Private Market. It is to be noted here that Farmers retention is a major issue as they are critical in spreading Word of Mouth of the experiences gained through sale of produce at Private Market. Also Based on the survey, Most of the farmers have got the information of vegetable trade in Private Market through Word of Mouth, Hence giving a right experience to the farmer is a must in the starting stages of a farmer visit. Giving farmers access to better infrastructural facilities, better prices, enhancing trader participation, Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 239

12 including the trade of other vegetables and fruits and good promotion will help attract more number of farmers and increase their participation. REFERENCES Anonymous (2011), Prospects of private wholesale markets Case of Premium market Nasik, CommodityIndia.com. Edward Seidler (2001), Wholesale Market Development FAO s Experience,Paper prepared for the 22nd Congress of the World Union of Wholesale Markets,Durban, South Africa Michael Warner, David Kahan and Szilvia Lehel(2008 ), Market-oriented agricultural infrastructure: appraisal of public-private partnerships, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations,Rome. Patel Amit *,Sharma* Mahendra, Pandya Maurvi,Public Private Partnership (PPP) Approach for sustainable development of APMCs in Gujarat, Conference on Global Competition and Competitiveness of Indian Corporate, dspace.iimk.ac.in/bitstream/2259/435/1/ pdf Steven M.Jaffee, (1992) How Private enterprise organised agricultural markets in Kenya,Policy research Working paper on Agricultural policy by World bank Steve Reiquam(2008) The Private Sector and Smallholder Agriculture:Best Practices with Relevance to Mali, Zambia, India and Sri Lanka Copyright 2011 Published by IJMRR. All rights reserved 240