What is the scope and importance of Agricultural Marketing?

Agricultural Marketing:
Concept and Definition:
Agriculture and marketing are the two words that make up the term
agricultural marketing. Agriculture, in its broadest meaning, refers to
activities aimed at maximizing the use of natural resources for
human benefit, which encompasses all primary production activities.
However, it is most commonly used to refer to the process of
cultivating and/or rearing crops and livestock. The term “marketing”
refers to a set of activities involved in getting products from point
of production to point of consumption. It encompasses all activities that
contribute to the development of time, place, form, and utility of ownership.
Agricultural marketing, according to Thomsen, encompasses all
activities and organizations engaged in the flow of farm-produced
goods, raw materials, and derivatives, such as textiles, from farms
to ultimate customers, as well as the effects on farmers,
middlemen, and consumers of such operations. This definition excludes
the input side of agriculture.
Agricultural marketing can also be defined as the study of all the
activities, agencies, and policies involved in farmers procuring farm
inputs and agricultural products moving from farms to consumers.
The agricultural marketing system serves as a tool between the
agricultural and non-agricultural sectors. It entails organizing the
supply of agricultural raw materials to processing companies,
determining the demand for farm inputs and raw materials, and
establishing marketing policies for farm goods and inputs.
Scope and Subject Matter of Agricultural Marketing:
Agricultural marketing, in its broadest meaning, refers to the sale
of farm products generated by farmers as well as agricultural
inputs used in the manufacture of these farm products. As a result,
the term “agricultural marketing” encompasses both product and input
marketing.
The topic of output marketing dates back to the dawn of civilization. With
the rising marketable surplus of crops following technological progress,
the role of output marketing has grown more apparent in recent years.
Farmers make goods for sale on the market. Farming becomes more
focused on the market. Input marketing is a relatively recent field of
study. Farmers employed farm sector inputs like local seeds and farmyard
manure in the past. These inputs were readily available to them; farmers’
purchases of inputs for crop production from the market were minimal.
Farm inputs, such as improved seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and
pesticides, farm machinery, implements, and financing, have been
increasingly important in the production of farm products in recent years.
The new farming technology responds to input. Product and input
marketing must be included in the scope of agricultural marketing. The
topic of agricultural marketing is discussed in this book, both theoretically
and practically. It describes the system, how it works, and how the offered
approach or procedures can be tweaked to achieve the best results.
Importance of Agricultural Marketing
Agricultural marketing plays an important role not only in stimulating production and
consumption, but also in accelerating the pace of economic development. It is the most important
multiplier of agricultural development. In the process of shifting from traditional to modern
agriculture, marketing emerges as the biggest challenge because of production surpluses
generated by the shift.
The importance of agricultural marketing is revealed from the following;
1. Optimization of Resource use and Output Management
An efficient agricultural marketing system leads to the optimization of resource use and output
management. An efficient marketing system can also contribute to an increase in the marketable
surplus by scaling down the losses arising out of inefficient processing, storage and
transportation. A well-designed system of marketing can effectively distribute the available stock
of modern inputs, and thereby sustain a faster rate of growth in the agricultural sector.
2. Increase in Farm Income
An efficient marketing system ensures higher levels of income for the farmers reducing the
number of middlemen or by restricting the cost of marketing services and the malpractices,
in the marketing of farm products. An efficient system guarantees the farmers better prices for
farm products and induces them to invest their surpluses in the purchase of modern inputs so that
productivity and production may increase. This again results in an increase in the marketed
surplus and income of the farmers. If the producer does not have an easily accessible market-
outlet where he can sell his surplus produce, he has little incentive to produce more.
3. Widening of Markets
An efficient and well-knot marketing system widens the market for the products by taking
them to remote corners both within and outside the country, i.e., to areas far away from the
production points. The widening of the market helps in increasing the demand on a
continuous basis, and thereby guarantees a higher income to the producer.
4. Growth of Agro-based Industries An improved and efficient system of agricultural
marketing helps in the growth of agro-based industries and stimulates the overall development
process of the economy. Many industries like cotton, sugar, edible oils, food processing and jute
depend on agriculture for the supply of raw materials.
5. Price Signals An efficient marketing system helps the farmers in planning their production in
accordance with the needs of the economy. This work is carried out through transmitting price
signals.