Vegetable Marketing in India : Pattern, Practices and Efficiency of Vegetable Marketing in Kangra District of Himachal Pradesh

This book includes the detail analysis of vegetable marketing in major vegetable growing blocks, Kangra and Nagrota Bagwan of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. The study revealed that marketing practices like open auction, grading, market charges and recording sale proceeds were not as per the ideal mechanism prescribed. Seven channels were identified for sale of summer and winter vegetables. The direct retailing to consumers was found to be the most efficient channel that needs to be popularised by setting farmers' markets. Seasonality in arrivals and prices of vegetable commodities was found to be most striking feature in the study area. The inverse arrivals and prices relationship in almost all the commodities clearly contemplates the need for prudent supply chain management, creating storage infrastructures and promoting value addition through processing in order to iron out wider swings in arrivals and prices. Similarly, market regulatory mechanism and infrastructure were not sufficient enough to expedite orderly marketing. This calls for bringing substantial structural and organizational changes in the existing marketing system for the benefit of farmers.