Exploring Market Potential and Developing Linkages – A Case of Underutilized Fruit Products in India

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, India, under the aegis of International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC), trained the officials of Bharathiya Agro-Industries Foundation (BAIF), a nongovernmental organization (NGO), on small scale processing and marketing of underutilized fruits in August 2004. As a result, small scale processing units were established at the community village level in the state of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat in India for processing of underutilized fruits like aonla, tamarind and jackfruit into different products. Later, a survey was undertaken to ascertain the processing and market potential of underutilized fruit products. The market survey in the Hassan district of Karanataka has indicated the presence of underutilized fruit products like citron pickles, tamarind paste and jackfruit chips, which are sold by the retailers in small quantities. The market survey of underutilized fruit products in Pune (Maharashtra) has indicated the trading of underutilized fruit products like aonla pickle, aonla squash, aonla supari and tamarind products like concentrate, pani puri masala in the market, though in small quantities. The market survey in the Dharmapur and Valsad markets, Gujarat has indicated the presence of underutilized fruit products like pachan aonla (digestive aonla), ber powder, salted ber and tamarind under different brand names like Oswal, Khelkar, Frootlet, etc. The share of the underutilized fruit products is small but these products have made their presence felt in the market. By and large, consumers have accepted the quality and price of the products of the small scale community processing unit. However, label needs improvement and is to be made more attractive. Thus, market research has helped in identifying the potential markets for the underutilized fruit products of the community level processing units. The institutional arrangements in the form of IIHR-BAIF have benefited the community at large and the women SHGs in particular.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Marketing Losses and Their Impact on Marketing Margins: A Case Study of Banana in Karnataka

The explicit evaluation of the post-harvest losses at different stages of marketing and their impact on farmers’ net price, marketing costs, margins and efficiency have been presented. It has been found that the existing methods tend to overstate the farmers’ net price and marketing margins of intermediaries. In fact, the margin of the retailers’ after taking into account the physical loss during retailing has been found to be negative (loss), which otherwise, was positive (profit) in the conventional estimation. Similarly, the producers’ net share and wholesalers’ margins also decrease substantially. It has been shown that marketing efficiency is inversely proportional to the marketing losses. The co-operative marketing has been found to be a more efficient system in terms of both operations and price. Marketing cost has been identified as the major constraint in the wholesale marketing channel and bringing down the costs, particularly the commission charges as demonstrated in the co-operative channel, will help in reducing the price-spread and increasing the producers’ margin. The need for specialized transport vehicles for perishable commodities has been highlighted.Crop Production/Industries, Marketing,

Integrated Pest and Disease Management in Tomato: An Economic Analysis

The adoption of IPM technology in tomato using African marigold as a trap crop, root dipping of seedlings in Imidacloprid, soil application of neem/pongamia cake, spraying of botanicals like pongamia soap and biopesticide like Ha NPV has been found effective in both insect as well as disease management. The IPM technology has been found economically viable as the yield on IPM farms has been found higher by about 46 per cent, cost of cultivation has been less by about 21 per cent and the net returns have been higher by 119 per cent. The technology can be considered environment-friendly as it uses more of eco-friendly inputs and less of chemicals. The constraints like non-availability of botanicals and bio-pesticides should be addressed on priority basis to make the technology sustainable and more popular.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Exploring Market Potential and Developing Linkages – A Case of Underutilized Fruit Products in India

Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, India, under the aegis of International Centre for Underutilized Crops (ICUC), trained the officials of Bharathiya Agro-Industries Foundation (BAIF), a nongovernmental organization (NGO), on small scale processing and marketing of underutilized fruits in August 2004. As a result, small scale processing units were established at the community village level in the state of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat in India for processing of underutilized fruits like aonla, tamarind and jackfruit into different products. Later, a survey was undertaken to ascertain the processing and market potential of underutilized fruit products. The market survey in the Hassan district of Karanataka has indicated the presence of underutilized fruit products like citron pickles, tamarind paste and jackfruit chips, which are sold by the retailers in small quantities. The market survey of underutilized fruit products in Pune (Maharashtra) has indicated the trading of underutilized fruit products like aonla pickle, aonla squash, aonla supari and tamarind products like concentrate, pani puri masala in the market, though in small quantities. The market survey in the Dharmapur and Valsad markets, Gujarat has indicated the presence of underutilized fruit products like pachan aonla (digestive aonla), ber powder, salted ber and tamarind under different brand names like Oswal, Khelkar, Frootlet, etc. The share of the underutilized fruit products is small but these products have made their presence felt in the market. By and large, consumers have accepted the quality and price of the products of the small scale community processing unit. However, label needs improvement and is to be made more attractive. Thus, market research has helped in identifying the potential markets for the underutilized fruit products of the community level processing units. The institutional arrangements in the form of IIHR-BAIF have benefited the community at large and the women SHGs in particular

Economic Impact of Commercial Hybrid Seed Production in Vegetables on Farm Income, Employment and Farm Welfare – A Case of Tomato and Okra in Karnataka

Commercial Seed Production (CSP) in vegetables like tomato and okra is an important economic activity for farmers in the dry regions like Haveri and Gadag in Karnataka providing assured returns and additional employment. Its economic impact assessed at individual and aggregate levels based on a sample of 70 cultivators has indicated that the activity provides stability, equity in income distribution across the group and helps enhance family welfare. Undertaken mainly during the khraif season on a plot of around 0.43 ha, the farmers incur an expenditure of around Rs 49,780 / ha for tomato and Rs 38,555/ha for okra. With a seed yield of 0.493 and 5.66 quintals of tomato and okra, respectively, the farmers could realize a net return of Rs 88,338/ha from tomato and Rs 39,440/ha from okra. Being highly labour-intensive involving special operations such as emasculation and hybridization, the commercial seed production generates employment opportunities of around 415 women-days in both tomato and okra CSP. With low coefficient of variation in the range of 8 per cent price in okra to around 28 per cent for yield in tomato, the CSP could provide income stability for the dryland farmers. Measured in terms of Gini’s coefficient of income equality, the CSP of tomato and okra with a value of 0.22 and 0.24 has proved to improve income distribution across the group. By adopting a combination of two plots of tomato, one during kharif and one during rabi, with one plot of okra in kharif, CSP could fetch the highest net return of Rs 33,859/ha. The presence of surrogate water market and dwindling groundwater in the region highlight the urgent need for a policy and action points for safeguarding the social and environment issues in the highly beneficial CSP of tomato and okra

Marketing Losses and Their Impact on Marketing Margins: A Case Study of Banana in Karnataka

The explicit evaluation of the post-harvest losses at different stages of marketing and their impact on farmers’ net price, marketing costs, margins and efficiency have been presented. It has been found that the existing methods tend to overstate the farmers’ net price and marketing margins of intermediaries. In fact, the margin of the retailers’ after taking into account the physical loss during retailing has been found to be negative (loss), which otherwise, was positive (profit) in the conventional estimation. Similarly, the producers’ net share and wholesalers’ margins also decrease substantially. It has been shown that marketing efficiency is inversely proportional to the marketing losses. The co-operative marketing has been found to be a more efficient system in terms of both operations and price. Marketing cost has been identified as the major constraint in the wholesale marketing channel and bringing down the costs, particularly the commission charges as demonstrated in the co-operative channel, will help in reducing the price-spread and increasing the producers’ margin. The need for specialized transport vehicles for perishable commodities has been highlighted

Marketing of agricultural biodiversity: a value chain approach to protect and exploit native fruit tree diversity in South and Southeast Asia

Poster presented at Regional Conference on Agro-biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Utilization; Managing Agro-biodiversity for Sustainable Development (RAC-1). Langkawi (Malaysia), 25-27 Sep 201