THE NEED FOR TRANSFORMING AGRICULTURE PRODUCE MARKETS: EVIDENCE FROM PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Abstract

The evolution of high-yielding varieties of seeds, increasing use of fertilizers, pesticides, installation of tube-wells and mechanization has increased the agricultural productivity (AP). An efficient agricultural marketing (AM) system increases the growth of agri-business and improves the economic growth. More recently, research has shown that agriculture growth cannot be realized without well- functioning agricultural produce markets (APMs).In Pakistan, however, development of APMs largely remained neglected because of overriding emphasis of public policies on enhancing AP. Consequently, APMs could not be developed adequately and imperfections in the legal structure, management and operations of these markets have limited their performance. A survey was conducted in nine districts of the Punjab province having interviews with staff of market committees (MCs-90), commission-agents (CAs-90), whole-sellers (WS-90) and retailers (RT-90). The results reflect that there is an urgent need for amending legal and institutional mechanism for making APMs efficient. The study will help academia and policy makers to improve efficiency of APMs in the province