Agro-Economic ResearchRelationship between Wholesale Prices, Retail Prices Export Prices (Fob),Prices Realized by Farmers

摘要

The study is an attempt to analyze the spread between wholesale, retail and export prices of onion, grapes and basmati rice. The study also analyzed the economics of cultivation, marketing channels, profitability of various market players and the major problems faced. The study uses secondary data (from 2001 to 2014), supplemented by primary data through in-depth surveys in two or three major states growing each of the study crops.Results of our secondary data analysis show that retailers' profit margins (of onions and grapes) are much higher than wholesalers and exporters, including Maharashtra which is an important state, indicating supernormal profits being earned by the retailers. Econometric analysis confirms the significant negative effect of market arrivals on prices at most markets. There is also a significant positive effect of wholesale prices on the retail prices.Results of the primary data analysis show that about 95% of the produce of all three study crops is sold in the market. More than three-fourths of the total costs are on account of inputs and the major component of input costs is labour (manual + bullock). There is some evidence of imperfection in vertical integration of onion markets in Gujarat and Karnataka. For all the study crops, regulated market and commission agents are the main channels of marketing. Farmers have mostly cited lack of remunerative price and lack of MSP & procurement as major problems in cultivating the study crops.