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Rural Marketing

Rural Agricultural Marketing

Preface
Marketing is the pivot of economic development in rural areas. It is an essential component in income and employment generation in farm and non-farm sectors. Since marketing is one of the pre-requisites for income generation, this article attempts to throw some light both on marketing of rural produce to other areas and improving marketing environment within the rural areas.

Introduction
Broadly rural marketing incorporates the marketing of agricultural products, rural industries products and services of many kind. The trade channels for different types of commodities available in rural areas areas private, cooperatives, processors, regulated markets and state agencies. In no sense, a social cluster or village economy as at whole can, be developed without effective and efficient rural marketing. Very little attention has been paid in the planning era towards the development of rural marketing. In fact marketing is a dynamic state of affairs and is part and parcel of the whole economy. Thus production and marketing are the two facets of a coin. Rural marketing constitutes the nerve centre of rural development activities.

Rural marketing is a two way marketing process. The content now encompasses not only marketing of products which flow to rural areas, but also products which flow to urban areas from rural areas. So a broad definition of rural marketing is concerned with the flow of goods and services from urban to rural arid vice-versa. In addition, it also include the marketing in the rural areas.

As the rural marketing is a two-way process, this article attempts to highlight both the aspects. It examines the marketing aspects of rural produce with special reference to agriculture while on, the other hand it covers and suggests .strategies for promoting marketing within the rural areas.

II. Marketing of Rural Produce to Other Areas

The rapid economic growth of-any developing country is mainly governed by...