Citrus marketing in Punjab: Constraints and potential for improvement

Abstract

This paper is based on primary data collected from a survey of citrus producers and market intermediaries from the major citrus producing area of Punjab. Data were collected from 125 producers to overview the existing citrus marketing system followed by the growers and to identify the socioeconomic and technical constraints for citrus marketing functionaries. The survey results revealed that more than 90 percent citrus producers sold harvesting rights of their orchards to contractors. It was found that the overall producer's share in the consumer's rupee was 35 percent, followed by the contractor and the retailer obtaining 32 and 20 percent respectively. Other indicators reported were net profit margins, duration and type of contract, method of contract price determination, mode of payment, and conduct of auctions. The results of deconstructing marketing margin analysis reveal that (i) profit absorbs most of the marketing margin, (ii) retailers receive the highest gross return while the rate of return is the highest with other marketing agents, and (iii) the highest rate of wastage occurs at the level of contractors. Efforts are required to control the post-harvest losses in citrus marketing.