Concepts & Definitions:

1. Agricultural marketing involves all activities in moving agricultural products from the farm to the consumer, from production until they reach the final consumer.
2. The term “Agricultural Marketing” was defined by Thomsen (1957).
3. Market means an arrangement for bringing buyers and sellers together.
4. Marketing system includes physical, institutional, and functional arrangements for moving goods from producers to consumers.
5. The Four P’s of marketing are: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
6. The Five M’s of marketing are: Men, Money, Materials, Machinery, and Market.
7. Marketing channels refer to the routes taken by commodities from producers to consumers.
8. Price discovery means determining prices through the interaction of demand and supply.
9. Agricultural Price Policy aims to ensure fair prices for both producers and consumers.

Marketing Functions:

1. Functions of marketing are: Exchange, Physical, and Facilitative.
2. Exchange functions are Buying and selling.
3. Physical functions are Storage, transportation, and processing.
4. Facilitative functions are Grading, financing, market information, and risk bearing.
5. Storage helps in overcoming the problem of time utility.
6. Transportation adds place utility to agricultural goods.
7. Grading means sorting of products based on quality.
8. Standardization means fixing quality standards for agricultural products.

Surplus & Margins:

1. Marketable surplus is the quantity left for sale after meeting family and farm needs.
2. Marketed surplus is the actual quantity sold by the farmer.
3. Marketed surplus ratio (MSR) = (Marketed surplus / Total production) × 100.
4. Market margin = Price paid by consumer − Price received by producer.
5. Price spread indicates the difference between retail and farm-gate price (Consumer’s price − Producer’s price).
6. Marketing efficiency = Value of goods marketed / Total marketing cost.
7. Marketing costs include transport, storage, commission, and handling expenses.
8. Producer’s share in consumer’s rupee = (Price received by farmer / Retail price) × 100.

Market Structure & Intermediaries:

1. Market structure refers to the number and size of firms in a market.
2. Perfect competition exists when many buyers and sellers deal in a homogeneous product.
3. Monopoly is a market where a single seller controls the entire supply.
4. Oligopoly is a market where few firms dominate.
5. Monopsony is a market with a single buyer.
6. Monopolistic competition involves many sellers with differentiated products.
7. Middlemen are the intermediaries between producer and consumer.
8. Wholesaler performs bulk buying and selling.
9. Retailer is the last link in the marketing chain.
10. Direct marketing involves no intermediaries between producer and consumer (e.g., Rythu Bazaar, Apni Mandi, Mother Dairy, Amul parlours).

Acts, Institutions & Schemes:

1. Regulated markets in India were started in Punjab (1908).
2. The first regulated market in India was established at Karanja, Maharashtra (1886).
3. APMC stands for Agricultural Produce Market Committee.
4. The Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Act was passed in 1939.
5. The Model APMC Act was introduced in 2003 by the Government of India.
6. AGMARK is a government certification mark for agricultural products in India.
7. The AGMARK Act was enacted in 1937 and came into force in 1938.
8. The Warehousing Act was passed in 1956.
9. Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) was established in 1957.
10. State Warehousing Corporations (SWC) were established in 1958 and operate under the State Governments.
11. Food Corporation of India (FCI) was established in 1965.
12. NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation) was established in 1958.
13. National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was established in 1965.
14. Operation Flood was launched in 1970 and revolutionized milk production in India.
15. The White Revolution is associated with Dr. Verghese Kurien.
16. e-NAM (National Agriculture Market) was launched in 2016 to integrate APMC mandis across India for online trading.
17. The Integrated Scheme for Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) was launched in 2013.
18. Agricultural Marketing Information Network (AGMARKNET) was launched in 2000 to connect APMC markets for online price dissemination.

Price Policy & Support:

1. Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) was set up in 1965.
2. MSP (Minimum Support Price) is recommended by CACP and announced by the Government of India before each sowing season.
3. MSP ensures remunerative prices to farmers and protects against price fluctuations.
4. The Price Support Policy is implemented through FCI and NAFED.
5. Procurement price is slightly higher than MSP, used for buffer stock creation.
6. Issue price is the price at which food grains are sold under PDS.
7. Buffer Stock is maintained to stabilize prices during scarcity.
8. Public Distribution System (PDS) distributes essential commodities at subsidized rates.
9. Terms of Trade (TOT) = Index of prices received by farmers / Index of prices paid by farmers.
10. Favourable TOT indicates farmers’ purchasing power has improved.
11. Unfavourable TOT indicates that farmers’ purchasing power has declined.
12. Parity price gives farmers fair purchasing power relative to other sectors.

Other Concepts:

1. Farm gate price is the price received by the farmer at the farm.
2. Retail price is the price paid by the consumer.
3. Contract Farming involves an agreement between farmer and buyer before production.
4. Futures Market deals with forward trading of commodities.
5. The Forward Contracts (Regulation) Act was passed in 1952.
6. FMC (Forward Markets Commission) was established in 1953.
7. Spot market involves immediate exchange of goods and payment.
8. Deflationary gap occurs when supply exceeds demand.
9. Inflationary gap occurs when demand exceeds supply.
10. Price elasticity of demand in agriculture is usually inelastic.
11. Value addition increases income by converting raw products into processed goods.
12. Cold chain infrastructure helps reduce post-harvest losses.