Alternate Marketing Channels
In recent years, alternative marketing channels such as farmers’ markets and alliances with national and multinational companies have emerged as viable options for farmers. These alternative channels provide farmers with a direct link to consumers, eliminating middlemen and ensuring a fair price for their produce.
Emerging alternatives such as contract farming, farmers’ markets, and direct marketing have also been promoted as a means of improving agricultural marketing in India. These alternatives have the potential to eliminate the middlemen and provide farmers with direct access to the market. Moreover, they can help in the development of the rural economy by creating additional job opportunities and generating income for farmers.
1. Origin of Farmers Market:
Farmers’ markets are community markets where farmers sell their produce directly to consumers. These markets have been in existence for centuries and were the primary mode of marketing agricultural products before the advent of middlemen. Farmers’ markets provide consumers with fresh and high-quality products and farmers with a fair price for their products. Some examples of Farmers’ Markets are Hadaspar Mandi in Pune, Apni Mandi in Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana.
2. Alliance with National and Multinational Companies:
Alliances with national and multinational companies are another alternative marketing channel for farmers. Under these alliances, companies partner with farmers to source their agricultural products directly, eliminating middlemen and ensuring a fair price for the farmers. These alliances also provide farmers with access to technology, credit, and other support services.
In the year 2020, the Indian Parliament passed three Agriculture Acts to reform the agriculture marketing system. However, a section of farmers opposed the Act because of which it was taken back in 2021.
With the above-mentioned problems faced by farmers, defects in the agricultural market system, and alternative marketing channels, it can be concluded that even though agricultural marketing has come a long way with the government’s intervention, it is still dominated by the private traders like rural political lenders moneylenders, rich farmers, and big merchants. Also, only 10% of the total agricultural product is handled by government agencies and consumer cooperatives, and the rest of the portion is handled by the private sector.