The term agricultural marketing is composed of two words-agriculture and marketing.

Agriculture, in the broadest sense, means activities aimed at the use of natural resources for
Human welfare, i.e., it includes all the primary activities of production. But, generally, it is use to
Mean growing and/ or raising crops and livestock. Marketing connotes a series of activities
involved in moving the goods from the point of production to the point of consumption. It
includes all the activities involved in the creation of time, place, form and possession utility.
According to Thomsen, the study of agricultural marketing comprises all the operations, and the
agencies conducting them, involved in the movement of farm-produced food, raw material and
their derivative.
MARKET MARGINS

When companies buy a product to act as a distributor or retailer, it must sell the product at a
higher price than that at which they purchased it. In such situations, the marketing margin of a
product is the difference between what a company pays for the product and what it charges for
the product. Margin refers to the difference between the price paid and received by a specific
marketing agency, such as a single retailer, or by any type of marketing agency such as retailers
or assemblers or by any combination of marketing agencies such as the marketing system as a
whole. Absolute margin is expressed in rupees. A percentage margin is the absolute difference in
price (absolute margin) divided by the selling price. Mark-up is the absolute margin divided by
the buying price or price paid.

Marketing margin of a Middleman: There alternative measures may be used. The three
alternative measures which may be used in estimating market margins are.

(a) Absolute margin of ith middlemen (AMi) = PRi PPi + Cmi

(b) Percentage margin of ith middlemen (PMi) =

  PRi - (PPi + Cmi)

--------------------- X 100

         PRi

(c) Mark-up of ith middleman (MMi) =

PRi - (PPi + Cmi)

-------------------- X 100

Ppi
Where,

PRi = Total value of receipts per unit (sale price)

Ppi = Purchase value of goods per unit (purchase price)

Cmi = Cost incurred on marketing per unit.

The margin includes profit to the middlemen and returns to storage, interest on capital, overheads
and establishment expenditure.

Sum of Average Gross margins method:

The average gross margins of all the intermediaries are added to obtain the total marketing
margin as well as the breakup of the consumer’s balance:

  n        Si - Pi

MT = Σ ---------

i=1       Oi

MT = Total marketing margin.

Si = Sale value of a product for ith firm

Pi = value paid by the ith firm

Qi = Quantity of the product handled by its firm

i = 1, 2, . . . . n (No. of firms involved in the marketing channel).

Marketed Surplus:

Marketed surplus is that quantity of the produce which the producer farmer actually sells in the
market, irrespective of the requirements for family consumption, farm needs and other payments.
The marketed surplus may be more, less or equal to the market able surplus. Whether the
marketed surplus increases with the increase in production has been under continual theoretical
security. It has been argued that poor and subsistence farmers sell that part of the produce which
is necessary to enable them to meet their cash obligations. This results in distress sale on some
farms.
The role of middleman:

A middleman is a person or company that connects buyers with sellers. Wholesalers are a type of
middleman. They buy goods from the manufacturer and then resell them to the retailer. A retailer
is also an example of a middleman, as is a real estate agent. The middleman does not produce
anything but has extensive market knowledge. The roles of a middleman are,

1. The middleman as trader: Middleman as trader offers to his customers an assortment of

products acquired from various sources.
2. The middleman as distributor: The role of middleman as distributor represents the dominating
view on intermediaries in the marketing literature which takes a manufacturers perspective.
3. The middleman as provider: In this view the middleman is part of the users supply network,
rather than a manufacturers channel.

Functions of agricultural markets:

In modern marketing, the agricultural produce has to undergo a series of transfers or exchanges
from one hand to another before it finally reaches the consumer. This is achieved through three
important marketing functions namely

a. Assembling (Concentration) – Concentration pertains to the operations concerned with the

assembly and transport of produce from the field to a common assembling area or the market.
b. Preparation for consumption (processing) – The produce may be sold, as obtained from the
field, or may be cleaned, graded, processed and packed either by the farmer or village merchant
before it is taken to the market. Some of the processing is necessary for the conservation of
quality.
c. Distribution (Dispersion) – It involves the operations of whole selling and retailing as various
points. By a series of indispensable adjustments and equalizing functions, it is the task of
distribution system o matches the available supplies with the existing demand.

The essential functions of agricultural marketing may be described as follows:

1. Assembling: Collection of produce for sale in mandis or larger markets is called Assembling.
Assembling is of two types:
i. Bringing together of smaller amounts of produce for greater convenience and economy in
buying, transporting or processing.
ii. Assembling occurs in the distribution of finished products. Wholesaler buys from many
processors to have on hand the commodities wanted by retailers to supply the consumers.
2. Processing: Processing is the conversion of farm produce in to more consumable form. E.g.
conversion of Wheat into floor, preparation of butter, ghee from milk, hulling of paddy into rice
etc.
3. Distributing: It relates to dispersing, retailing and marketing of produce. Distribution bridges
the gap between the wholesalers and large number of consumers.
4. Grading and Standardization: Grading is the sorting out of the commodities in to different
groups on the basis of size, variety, taste, quality, color etc. Such separation may or may not
conform to established standards.
Whereas standardization fixes the grades and does not allow them vary from season to season
and year to year. Grading and standardization are used interchangeably.
Advantages of Grading and standardization:
a. Uniformity between markets is provide
b. Products of similar grade can be stored in bulk
c. Market values are better understood
d. Commodities can be bought and sold without previous examination
Standards provide a basis for market reporting and advertising
5. Transportation: Physical movement of produce from the place of production to the final
consumer is called transportation. Transportation creates place utility. Transportation takes place
through different means like road, rail, air, and water.
6. Storage: Storage is the holding of produce from time of production until needed by the
consumers.
Advantages of Storing:
a. Storing creates time utility.
b. Storage helps to spread out market supply.
c. Some products are Stored for short period where as fresh fruits, vegetables require cold
storage.
7. Packaging: Packaging is the packing or covering the product in such sizes and pattern as to be
most marketable. The objectives of packaging are
a. to facilitate the handling of product
b. to reduce the storage and marketing cost
c. to prevent loss by deterioration and rob
d. to make products more attractive

Change in marketing chain:

The digital age has altered how businesses market their products. It has completely altered the
playing field so companies have to tailor their strategies to reach their customers. It’s led to a rise
in new companies, but in many ways it’s made it more difficult to succeed.
A huge marketing budget is no longer enough to take advantage of these Marketing channels. In
this article, you will earn how the digital age has changed marketing channels.
1. Customer Service is Always On

Customer service almost lost its importance before the digital age. As long as the store Assistant
was sort of nice and they managed to get them out the door without too much trouble, The
customer would normally forget about everything. However, that’s not the case now because the
biggest change to the digital age is that customer service never sleeps. People expect you to
address the needs of customers at all times. When 89% of companies believe customer service is
their main point of competition, many have had to make a drastic shift in resources. The ‘always
son’ idea hasn’t necessarily meant you have to be available 24/7. What it does mean, though, is
you have to address problems as fast as you can.

2. A Level Playing Field

The way communication has changed is another facet of the digital marketing age. Digital
marketing channels are now more level than ever before. Due to the way customer behaviors
Have shifted, it’s now easier than ever to hit your target audience. In many ways, the value of a
big brand name has diminished somewhat. You will not create a Sales spike by virtue of being a
big company. Smaller companies have just as much power as you do in making themselves into
success stories. Digital marketing channels provide as much coverage to smaller companies as
they do to established brands.

3. Pay to Play is Coming Back (and it’s cheap)

Advertising used to be a relatively simple thing to understand. The company with the biggest
Advertising budget usually won. They could reach more people therefore they were more likely
To achieve the success they wanted not so now. For a time, the digital age meant that free
advertising was everywhere. Social media channels, pioneered by Facebook, have brought back
the idea of paying to play. In other words, you have to dedicate as mall budget to reaching people
via social media. Nevertheless, this is not necessarily a bad thing. On the contrary, it means that
you can compete based on your skills as an advertiser, as opposed to simply spamming lots of
posts, which was the case before. The digital age has heralded an era where everyone can join
the advertising dogfight. Yes, those with huge budgets still have an advantage, but it’s no longer
the decisive advantage of before. Even the smallest companies have good reason to play.

4. It Killed Traditional Advertising

Traditional advertising is dead. Television and radio, for example, have fallen a lot thanks to all
Of the streaming services that are available. It’s not because of anything they’ve done; it’s
because people are moving online. They no longer sit in front of the TV when they can watch the
same show without any ads online. Furthermore, online marketing channels tend to be better
targeted. You only pay for reaching people who may actually have an interest in what you have
to say.

5. Ads Can’t Be Ads

Perhaps the biggest change of all is ‘ad blindness’. Ad blindness is a state where most people
don’t see the ads presented to them online anymore. Ignoring the fact that ad blockers are
common, even when ads do appear they are simply passed over without a second thought. It’s
led to many companies realizing that the traditional ad is dead, even in an online environment.
Digital marketing channels have had to give something before they can get something back. This
may be in the form of a free eBook or an entry into a competition.
The characteristics and advantage of super market:

The super market is a large-scale retail institution specialising in necessaries and convenience
goods. They have huge premises and generally deal in food and non-food articles. In the words
of M.M. ZIMMERMAN, “A super market is a departmentalised retail establishment having four
basic departments viz. self-service grocery, meat produce, dairy products plus other household
departments, doing a maximum business. It may be entirely owner-operated or have some of the
departments leased out on a concession basis.”
Super markets came into existence in the USA during the Great Depression of the thirties.
However, the original super markets were established by independent merchants who dealt
mainly in food produce. The chief characteristic feature of a super market is the absence of
salesmen.
The customers are to do the shopping themselves from the racks which are properly labelled and
at the end of the market there is the cashier who takes the cash after weighing and checking the
commodities. Usually the customers make their purchases and carry them in trolleys. Thus, the
super markets are also known as self-service stores since the customers are to do all the
purchasing by themselves without the aid of salesmen or selling assistants.

Characteristics:
(i) They are located in the main shopping centres of an area with adequate parking facilities.
(ii) They function on cash-and-carry lines and offer no credit.
(iii) There are no selling counters or selling assistants to help the customers.
(iv) They stock a very wide range of food and non-food products, particularly meat products,
dairy products, tinned food, bakery items, vegetables and other household products.
(v) They are large retail organisations and are a useful channel of distribution.
(vi) They have low sales overheads since no salesmen are employed.
(vii) The products stored in a super market are properly packed and placed on separate racks in
order to facilitate purchasing by the buyer.
(viii) It is one of the leading methods of retailing in the USA.
(ix) They use mass displays of goods, have low prices and operate on self-service basis.
(x) The buyer is completely at ease while buying as there is no undue sales pressure by counter
salesmen.

Advantages:
(i) Large turnover because of the large variety of merchandise which is offered to the customers.
(ii) Low overheads, particularly selling overheads.
(iii) Low prices and high profits because of quick turnover.
(iv) Situated at convenient places and within reach of buyers.
(v) Avails economies of large scale operation.
(vi) The buyer is perfectly free as to what he should buy.
Increase in super market:
Supermarket biggies have attempted a massive expansion drive this year to catch up more
shoppers who still depend on unorganized wet markets to buy their essentials. The rise in
supermarkets, according to analysts, will diversify consumer choices and boost consumer
spending needed for economic growth, while the wet markets will also witness an improvement
in quality and services on increased penetration of supermarkets. According to operators, 29
more chain retail outlets are expected to come up this year in an attempt to rope in more
customers. Major expansion drive has been taken by one of the leading local conglomerates,
ACI. Its concern ACI Logistics is poised to open 17 outlets in the months to May under the
brand name of Fresh N’ Near. Meena Bazaar is set to add five outlets this year to its existing
eight, while Rahimafrooz Superstores will add four, and Nandan Mega Shop three in the same
year. ACI, which made debut in chain supermarket business in mid-last year, has already opened
three outlets, thanks to the enterprising spirit of a few big business houses that pioneered in
bringing dynamism in the once overlooked retailing of perishable and fast moving consumer
goods. Local businesses are set to expand branches at a time when some foreign investors such
as Bangkok-based retail and hospitality group CENTEL wants to enter the segment. But a
decade ago, the trade was in the hands of thousands of small retailers in the wet markets and
grocery shops in cities and remained out of the focus of business conglomerates. The landscape
began to change after 2000 as Rahimafrooz Superstores, operating company of Agora, began to
catch up a slice of retailing and wholesale trade, which has been growing annually by more than
6 percent on an average and contributing over 13 percent to GDP since 1999–2000 fiscal years.
In the last eight years, many small and big supermarkets made debut in the trade to attract middle
and upper middle class consumers, a section of who are shifting to the chain stores from the wet
or kitchen markets. ‘The whole business is based on volume. The more is the sales volume, the
more is the possibility of making profit,’ an officer of meena bazar said. Supermarket operators
said a rise in the organized retailing would offer consumers hygienic.