PRICE BEHAVIOUR AND FARMERS ASSESSMENT IN FUNCTIONING OF REGULATED MARKETS OF APMC SOLAN OF HIMACHAL PRADESH
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Date
2016
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Abstract
ABSTRACT Present study entitled “Price behaviour and farmer’s assessment in functioning of regulated markets of APMC Solan of Himachal Pradesh” was conducted to study the different aspects of market infrastructure, trends in arrival and prices of agricultural commodities, awareness, perceptions and constraints faced by farmers. Simple random sampling design was employed to select the farmers. A list of farmers was prepared with the help of market functionaries of the selected APMC. From the list, 60 farmers were selected for collection of data. The study is based on primary as well as secondary data, The primary data were collected through survey method while secondary data were gathered from the records of the APMC and from the AGMARKNET site. To meet out the requirements of the study objectives, Tabular analysis, Market analysis, Time series analysis, Coefficient of variation, Infrastructure Development index, Correlation, Henry Garrett Ranking Technique and Chi Square test have been used. Occupational distribution revealed that 76.44 per cent of work force in the studied households practice farming, The average size of land holding of the sample households was found 1.59 hectares of which 48.05 per cent was cultivated area. 58.33 per cent of the farmers were selling their produce in Solan market, Proportion of farmers selling their produce outside the state increased with the farm size, as only 33.33 per cent medium farmer sold their produce outside state , Infrastructure development index for Solan market was found higest 0.89 and lowest is 0.10 in Saproon. Private transport was the most commonly used mode of transport of the respondents with the highest per centage of 46.67 per cent found. The coefficient of variation in arrival of tomato was higher in all the markets compared to variation in price. Correlation between price and arrival in capsicum and peas were found negative and significant in Solan and Kandaghat. Growth rates were also estimated and it was found that the prices of different vegetable crops registered a linear positive growth. The highest 42.01 per cent seasonality was found in Kandaghat market in cauliflower and seasonality in vegetable crops varied between 1.01 to 162.07 per cent. Hence analysis revealed the presence of higher seasonality in vegetable crops. 76.67 per cent of the respondents in the study area opinion that regulated markets are useful and selling of agricultural produce in regulated markets was the most preferred as 50.00 per cent of farmers used this system. Most important motivating factor for preferring the regulated markets by the farmers was market price as opinioned 43.33 per cent farmers. However, co-farmers was the main source of market information used by the farmers 23.33 per cent. Respondents were highly satisfied with “Physical function related with producer’s welfare, which presents a Garrett score of 51.80 per cent. Constraints related with the trade, absence of credit facility were ranked first where as inadequate storage and transport facility was ranked first in constraints related with facilitative function with garrett mean score of 60.65 per cent and 63.94 per cent respectively.
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markets, marketing, market regulations, crops, seasons, selection, area, sampling, manpower, economics, Price behaviour, APMC Solan of Himachal Pradesh