Theory question 110
Marketing of Agricultural Produce(a) Explain agricultural marketing and four channels of marketing farm produce.
(b) State four problems associated with marketing of farm produce by small-scale farmer.
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(a) Agricultural marketing is all the activities in moving farm produce from the farmer to the consumer (assembling, grading, processing, storage, transport, pricing, selling)
Channels (any four): producer → consumer (direct/farm gate); producer → retailer → consumer; producer → wholesaler → retailer → consumer; producer → cooperative society → consumer; producer → marketing board/agency → exporter/processor; producer → processor
(b) Any four: poor roads/high transport cost; lack of storage, so produce sold at harvest at low prices; perishability; price fluctuation; exploitation by middlemen; small quantities produced; lack of market information; poor grading/standardisation; lack of finance
Define marketing, then describe each channel as a chain.