Price Spread and Intermediary Margins in Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) Marketing Channels of Northern Hill Agro-Climatic Zone of Chhattisgarh

Introduction

Oilseeds play a significant role in the agricultural economy of India by contributing to farm income and nutritional security. Among minor oilseed crops, Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) holds particular importance in tribal and rainfed regions due to its adaptability to marginal lands, low input requirements, and suitability under traditional farming systems. In the state of Chhattisgarh, Niger is predominantly cultivated in the Northern Hill Agro-Climatic Zone, where it serves as an important source of livelihood for small and marginal farmers, especially in hilly and forest-fringe areas. Despite its agronomic and socio-economic importance, the marketing system of Niger remains relatively underdeveloped. Farmers often face constraints such as inadequate market infrastructure, limited access to price information, dominance of intermediaries, and weak bargaining power. These factors contribute to wide price spreads between producers and consumers, ultimately reducing the producer's share in the consumer's rupee. Understanding the nature and magnitude of price spread across different marketing channels is therefore essential to evaluate the performance of the Niger supply chain. The marketing channels for Niger in the Northern Hill region typically involve multiple intermediaries such as village traders, commission agents, processors, and wholesalers. Each intermediary performs specific marketing functions and incurs costs, which are compensated through marketing margins. While these services are essential for moving the commodity along the supply chain, excessive margins and high marketing costs can widen the gap between prices received by producers and prices paid by consumers. Consequently, farmers often receive a relatively small share of the consumer's rupee, which discourages market participation and limits income enhancement opportunities. Empirical estimation of price spread, defined as the difference between the consumer price and the net price received by the producer, provides insights into the distribution of costs and margins across different stages of the marketing channel. Similarly, analysis of intermediary margins helps identify the contribution of each market participant to the overall price build-up. Such quantitative assessments are essential for comparing alternative marketing channels and identifying inefficiencies within the supply chain. However, empirical evidence on price spread and intermediary margins in Niger marketing, particularly in the Northern Hill Agro-Climatic Zone of Chhattisgarh, remains limited. The Northern Hill region is characterized by difficult terrain, dispersed production, inadequate market infrastructure, and high transportation costs, all of which influence marketing costs and margins. These regionspecific constraints necessitate a detailed, channel-wise examination of marketing costs, intermediary margins, and price spread using primary data. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for formulating policies aimed at www.extensionjournal.com improving market efficiency, reducing unnecessary intermediation, and enhancing producers' share in the consumer price. In this backdrop, the present study aims to analyse the price spread and intermediary margins in Niger (Guizotia abyssinica) marketing channels in the Northern Hill Agro-Climatic Zone of Chhattisgarh. The findings of this study are expected to provide valuable insights for policymakers, planners, and development agencies in formulating strategies to improve market access, reduce inefficiencies, and enhance farmers' income from Niger cultivation. ) area of total area in Chhattisgarh. Therefore, Northern hill zone was selected purposively. Surguja, Balrampur and Jashpur districts from Northern Hills were selected for the study, due to potentiality and production of Niger in these districts. Looking to the scope and prospects of these oilseeds in Northern Hills, many private oil expeller machines were established in these districts. Out of three districts i.e., Surguja, Balrampur and Jashpur two blocks from each district were selected purposively i.e. Ambikapur and Lundra block from Surguja district, Wadrafnagar and Rajpur block from Balrampur district, Manora and Jashpur block from Jashpur district on the basis of maximum oilseed production in Northern Hills. The villages were selected randomly from the selected blocks. The primary data was collected from 82 respondents by using%age proportionate method at 25% by well-designed schedules through personal interview during November 2022-23.

Objectives

Concepts Used Marketed surplus

It is the quantity which the producer actually sells irrespective of his needs for home consumption and other requirements.

Marketing channels

These refer to the chains of intermediaries through which rapeseed and mustard pass on from the producer to ultimate consumers.

Producer's share in consumer rupee

It is the price received by the farmer expressed as a% of the retail price (price paid by the consumer). The producer's share in consumer's rupee may be expressed as follows:

Price spread

The price spreads of rapeseed-mustard in the sample market were investigated at a point of time in various marketing channels. The price spread refers to the difference between the price paid by the consumer and the price received by the producer for an equivalent quantity at a given point of time in a specific market.

Marketing margins

Marketing margin is the difference between the total payment (cost + purchase price) and receipt (sale price) of the middlemen.

A mi = P ri -(P pi + C mi )

Where, A mi = Absolute margin of i th middlemen P ri = Total value of receipts per unit (sale price) P pi = Purchase value of goods per unit (purchase pi price) C mi = Cost incurred on marketing per unit

Results and Discussion

The results of the study have been presented as under:

Production Consumption and Marketable Surplus of Niger

The study found that a portion of Niger production was retained by farmers for home consumption and seed use.

Marginal farmers retained the highest share of produce for home consumption (11.54%), followed by small (10.4%), medium (9.32%) and large farmers (8.82%), with an overall average of 9.85%. Seed retention was relatively low across all farm sizes, with small farmers retaining a higher proportion (4.00%) compared to marginal (3.85%), medium (3.72%) and large farmers (3.43%). Consequently, the marketable surplus was highest among large farmers (87.74%), followed by medium (86.95%), small (85.60%) and marginal farmers (84.61%), reflecting lower retention for consumption and seed purposes on large farms. The findings of study envisaged that channel -III was the most efficient for marketing of Niger followed by channel -II and channel -I respectively. The marketing margins of the middlemen in channel -I were estimated to be Rs.2779 per quintal followed by channel-II (Rs.2364 per quintal) and channel-III (Rs.1754 per quintal). The total marketing costs incurred in the marketing of Niger through the Channel-I was found more in channel-I at Rs.494 per quintal than channel-II (Rs. 473 per quintal) and channel-III (Rs. 347 per quintal). The price spread was also higher in channel-I at Rs. 3530 per quintal than channel-II (Rs.3053 per quintal) and channel-III (Rs.2026 per quintal) because the marketing costs were higher in channel-I. Producer's share in consumer's rupee was 68.08% in channel-I, 71.94% in channel-II and 79.76% in channel-III.

References

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