Lesson Note
Subject: Agricultural Science
Topic: Marketing of Agricultural Products.
Lesson Objectives: by the end of the lesson, the learners should be able to:
State the meaning and importance of
agricultural marketing.
List the various marketing agents and
channels.
State the merits and demerits of the
various agents and channels.
List the functions performed by
marketing agents.
Mention and list the types of crops that are commonly exported to other nations.
Rules that guide exportation of crops.
Importance of exports to agricultural
development.
MEANING OF AGRICULTURAL
MARKETING
Agricultural marketing are the activities involved in the flow of goods and services from the producers (farners) to the final consumers. In other words, agricultural marketing involves all the activities required to move farm produce from the producers farmers) to the final consumers.
Marketing also includes the selling of
farm input to farmers orpurchasing offarn input, e.g seeds, fertilizers and disposal ofagricultural produce to the final consumers or users.
IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURAL MARKETING
1. Marketing helps to make products available throughout the year.
2. It creates employnnent opportu-nities for many people.
3. It locates where there are surpluses of
produce and brings them to where there are shortages.
3. Export of agricultural products provides foreign exchange (income) to the nation.
4. It helps in price determination.
5. It enables producers to know the taste
of the consumers.
6. It ensures good research into products
preferred by consumers.
7. It helps in the provision ofinfrastructure
such as roads, electricity and pipe-bome water.
MEANING OF MARKETING
AGENTS OR CHANNELS
Marketing channel is the sequence of
intermediaries and markets through which produce move from the producers to the consumers in other words, it is the stage through which a produce passes in the market system, starting from the producer till it gets to the final consumers.
These marketing channels are:
The local market: A market isa place
where sellers and buyers are in close
contact. Products brought to the market by the sellers (producers) are sold to the buyers (consumers).
Cooperative societies: Co-operative
societies buy goods in large quantities
and make them available to their
Middlemen: Middlemen like the
wholesalers and retailers form a link
which buys goods from the producer (farmers) and sells to the consumers.
Commissioned agents: These agents
buy goods or produce from peasant
farmers and sell to marketing boards.
Exporters: Exporters buy produce
from commissioned agents or big time farmers and export the produce to overseas buyers or consumers.
Producers: These are the farmers
themselves who are also involved in the marketing of their produce.
Consumers: Consumers are at times
involved in the marketing of farm
produce.
Processors: These are agents who buy
produce directly from producers
(farmers)in raw state and process them
into usable or consumable products.
Marketing Boards: Marketing boards are equally marketing channels
through which produce are purchased
in large quantities either for industrial
purposes or for export.