Agriculture marketing is the word which is being used in the world of trading. When the goods are transferred from producer to consumer is termed as agriculture marketing. Most of things are connected to each other in agri marketing like production, growing, harvesting , packing, transport, storage, distribution, advertising etc. Market should provide profit to all whether its a customer or producer. It must be customer oriented. In olden days their were different techniques has been applied to transfer product but today in modern marketing different procedures applies to transfer the agri product from producer to customer. Agri products contain everything Seeds, grains, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oil etc. In the development of rural areas, income generation, linkage market plays an important role. These connect social and economic needs.
In the olden days it was very difficult to know the status or rates of the products but in the modern world new technologies are developed through which one can get each and every information related to the market and can be up to date. SMS on cell phone and FM radio facility provides best service to the customer as well as producer. Internet is the another way to get the information. The changes occure can be seen easily. Agriculture commodities are of two types hard and soft. Corn, wheat, soyabean, sugar all are soft commodity. Hard commodity are mined from the ground. One fifth of total GDP contain by agriculture commodities.
Agriculture marketing has two objectives :
1. Sale of surplus commodity
2. Buy other commodity to satisfy needs.
Basically market is divided into three parts :
1.Wholesale market
2. Retail market
3. Fairs
Marketing channel is used through which products are transfer from producer to consumer. Marketing channel consist of storage, handling, transporting, packaging and retailing. In India agriculture is the largest source of employment.
Spot trading is the another term used in market in which delivery takes place on the spot or immediately. Future marketing also done in agriculture products in which the product is being buy or sell in the future trading. The National Commodity and Derivative Exchange, the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd and the National Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. All three have electronic trading and settlement systems and a national presence. Trading in commodity is much more easier then Stocks because their margin is very low. Brokrage is ranges from 0.05% to 0.12% only.
Commodities are generally considered as more stable and consistant in investing but it also have some risk. Agriculture product are transferred from the producer to the consumer in many different ways. Some acts are also applied over the agriculture trading. On average, every hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, around $6 million in U.S. agricultural products–grains, oilseeds, cotton, meats, vegetables, snack foods, etc., will be consigned for shipment for export to foreign markets.