AGRICULTURAL MARKETING

The scenario of marketing of agriculture commodities is undergoing change as massive investments are expected from the private sector in the retail business. Currently, only 2% of the retail is in the organized sector. McKinney reports that the Indian retail business is US$ 6.6 trillion. In value terms in Indian retail is about Rs 9,00,000 crores. Currently the combined retail business in the organized sector is just about Rs. 1800 crores. It is expected to grow at about 8% per annum. Fruits and vegetables constitute about 20% of the shelf space in the organized retail formats known as super markets. Though less than 10% house holds stay in the metros and the B and C grade cities are changing their lifestyles and ask for better quality and variety supported by good customer support. With the entry of Reliance fresh and Bharati the face of retail especially with regard to agriculture commodities is expected to under go massive transformation. Indian market being price sensitive and consumer’s preference for fresh vegetables and fruits the retailers will be under pressure to improve the supply chain. It is in this context better collaboration with the farming community needs to be established as they are the major stake holders.

Hence JSYS project which has taken up 2005 tanks in the on going project in the midcourse of the project felt proper marketing interventions to improve the marketing of agriculture commodities. As of now JSYS has promoted contract farming in selected patches. The crops currently grown under contract farming are Gherkins, seeds, medicinal and aromatic plants. Based on the learning for the follow on project various activities have been chalked out to make farmers ready for changing scenario of retailing in India.

Firstly, it is worthwhile to change the designations of Agriculture Specialists to Tank Agribusiness Specialist as it gives them business orientation while developing their advocacy strategies with the tank command farmers.

Secondly the capacity of the farmers needs to be built and hence a comprehensive module on marketing which will have Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), post harvest measures, packing, grading, storage, transportation, brand building, market intelligence and insurance, contract farming etc. shall be developed for which a committee shall be formed which consists of experienced people from the organized retail, contract farming organization, KSAMB and University. Such a module shall be used to conduct training for every 10 tanks by Agribusiness Specialists. Three farmers’ one big farmer, one small farmer and one woman member shall be selected from each TMI.
Trainers Training programme for agribusiness specialists will be organized to build their capacities to impart the training module developed by JSYS further at cluster levels.
In order to build rapport between buyers and producers meets shall be organized at cluster level to bridge the gap between buyers and sellers. This will have focus on developing collaboration. Such meets will have participation of buyers and officers from of Karnataka State Agricultural Marketing Board, Agricultural Department, Horticulture Department, leading banks and as well insurance companies. This shall enable to understand the trends in consumption, and marketing. During such meets there will be showcasing of the produce of the command area for the benefit of the buyers to make decisions.
The expected gathering in such meetings will be about 100 with stalls of TMIs showcasing their product samples

The tanks in the follow on project fall in five different agro climatic zones hence a market research study shall be initiated zone wise to understand different aspects of marketing issues. This study shall be conducted by reputed Market Research organization with sufficient experience on agricultural aspects. For which a TOR will be prepared by marketing specialist.

It is important to create visibility for the project to attract the buyers and consumers as project advocacy is on organic production. Hence there shall be participation in various exhibitions. In these exhibitions the products of the TMIs shall be displayed and will have selected TMI members (with proper representation of woman members) participating in the frontline. There capacities shall be suitably built by imparting training before they participate in the exhibitions. In these exhibitions to display electronic display units shall be purchased. Makeshift exhibition kiosks shall be made available for DPU to enable them to participate on different occasions like Mela’s, consumer fares etc which shall create brand visibility.

State level marketing conferences shall be organized which are of two to three days duration involving agribusiness specialists, concerned departments, CFT’s, banks, universities and TMI representatives to present papers and discuss on issues related to GAPs and marketing. Such a meeting will have about 100 member’s participation at state level.

A comprehensive web portal shall be designed with following
Features

· Dedicated and Reliable Hosting
· Virus and Spam Filters
· Secure Transactions
· Database Support
· Maximum Up-time
· Tie-up with Major International Banks for Credit Card Transactions.
· Credit Card validations
· Paypal Gateway
· Online Currency Converter (Cost of the products and Amount can be viewed in Rupees, Dollars, Euro etc. as per visitors Choice)
· Multi Linguistic support (View Portal in different languages such as English, French, Chinese, and Japanese Etc.)
· Multi Platform Support such as Windows/Java/Linux.
· Multi Browser support such as Internet Explorer, Fire fox, Opera, Netscape Navigator etc.
· Discussion Forums
· Attractive and a Corporate Web Design
· Complete information about the Organization and E-Com Program.
· Portal Maintenance to ensure proper functioning.

Admin

· Create Shopping Category.
· Add / Edit / Delete Products under each category with Sale price / Description/ Photographs.
· View/Edit/Delete Users.
· View Registration Details.
· Online and Secure Account Maintenance for all E-Com Transactions.
· Flash New Offers
· Upload Agriculture Based Articles
· Online Stock Inventory.
· View feedback and enquiries from Customers
· Flash and Important News via SMS and Emails

Reports

· Web Statistics
· Yearly / Monthly /Weekly / Daily Sale Reports
· Total Sales made by each customer in a specific period
· Current Stock Report

User

· Shop required products online and pay through Credit card / Paypal
· Send Enquiries
· Read Agriculture related Newsletter and Articles
· Online Chat
· Participate in Discussion Forums
· Referral Program
· Register and View Shopping cart
· View Previous Transaction History.



In order to build the capacities of the farmers such website shall be built in the first year of the project itself so that after the project the federation of the TMIs will continue.