AGRICULTURE MARKETING
Agriculture marketing is one of the most
important part of developing the local and national economy. It has a great
influence in facilitating the means of foreign exchange and also provides jobs
and livelihood for the people. Indeed, in enhancing the rapid growth to any
nation that has adopted good agricultural measures for making general
infrastructure and providing for the well-being to the populace. Thus, if
someone claims that the thriving of the whole national and international
economy hinges upon the prosperity in this sector then its properly tends to be
true. With this and much more in mind, Islam offers the agricultural sector a
special consideration and impatiently enjoins Muslims to benefit as much as
they can from the bounties of Almighty Allah, which He has widely bestowed on
the earth. This can clearly appeared in numerous Qur’anic verses from which are
the following: “It is He who has spread out the earth for his creatures.
Therein is fruit and date palms, with spatters and husked corn and scented
herbs. Then which of the favours of your Lord will you deny?” (Q 55:
10-13). “Then let man look at his food, how we pair forth water in
abundance, then we split the earth into fragments and produce therein corn and
grapes and nutritious plants” (Q 80: 2-28)
What is mean by agricultural marketing? Agricultural
marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from
the farm to the consumer. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in
doing this, such as planning production, growing and harvesting, grading,
packing, transport, storage, agro- and food processing, distribution,
advertising and sale. Some definitions would even include “the acts of buying
supplies, renting equipment, (and) paying labor", arguing that marketing is
everything a business does. Such activities cannot take place without the
exchange of information and are often heavily dependent on the availability of
suitable finance.Marketing systems are dynamic; they are competitive and
involve continuous change and improvement. Businesses that have lower costs,
are more efficient, and can deliver quality products, are those that prosper.
Those that have high costs, fail to adapt to changes in market demand and
provide poorer quality are often forced out of business. Marketing has to be
customer-oriented and has to provide the farmer, transporter, trader,
processor, etc. with a profit. This requires those involved in marketing chains
to understand buyer requirements, both in terms of product and business
conditions.In Western countries considerable agricultural marketing support to
farmers is often provided. In the USA, for example, the USDA operates the
Agricultural Marketing Service. Support to developing countries with
agricultural marketing development is carried out by various donor
organizations and there is a trend for countries to develop their own
Agricultural Marketing or Agribusiness units, often attached to ministries of
agriculture. Activities include market information development, marketing
extension, training in marketing and infrastructure development. Since the
1990s trends have seen the growing importance of supermarkets and a growing
interest in contract farming, both of which impact significantly on the way in
which marketing takes place.
How agriculture marketing is developing? Well-functioning
marketing systems necessitates a strong private sector backed up by appropriate
policy and legislative frameworks and effective government support services.
Such services can include provision of market infrastructure, supply of market
information (as done by USDA, for example), and agricultural extension services
able to advise farmers on marketing. Training in marketing at all levels is
also needed. One of many problems faced in agricultural marketing in developing
countries is the latent hostility to the private sector and the lack of
understanding of the role of the intermediary. For this reason “middleman” has
become very much a pejorative word.
Efficient
marketing infrastructure such as wholesale, retail and assembly markets and
storage facilities is essential for cost-effective marketing, to minimise
post-harvest losses and to reduce health risks. Markets play an important role
in rural development, income generation, food security, developing rural-market
linkages and gender issues. Planners need to be aware of how to design markets
that meet a community's social and economic needs and how to choose a suitable
site for a new market. In many cases sites are chosen that are inappropriate
and result in under-use or even no use of the infrastructure constructed. It is
also not sufficient just to build a market: attention needs to be paid to how
that market will be managed, operated and maintained. In most cases, where
market improvements were only aimed at infrastructure upgrading and did not
guarantee maintenance and management, most failed within a few years.Promoting
market orientation in agricultural advisory services aims to provide for the
sustainable enhancement of the capabilities of the rural poor to enable them to
benefit from agricultural markets and help them to adapt to factors which
impact upon these. As a study by the Overseas Development Institute
demonstrates, a value chain approach to advisory services indicates that the
range of clients serviced should go beyond farmers to include input providers,
producers, producer organisations and processors and traders.Farmers frequently
consider marketing as being their major problem. However, while they are able
to identify such problems as poor prices, lack of transport and high
post-harvest losses, they are often poorly equipped to identify potential
solutions. Successful marketing requires learning new skills, new techniques
and new ways of obtaining information. Extension officers working with
ministries of agriculture or NGOs are often well-trained in horticultural
production techniques but usually lack knowledge of marketing or post-harvest
handling. Ways of helping them develop their knowledge of these areas, in order
to be better able to advise farmers about market-oriented horticulture, need to
be explored. While there is a range of generic guides and other training
materials available from FAO and others, these should ideally be tailored to
national circumstances to have maximum effect.
The
availability of prompt and reliable market information about what is happening in the market, what quantities are arriving and what
prices are quoted for different
commodities considerably improves the decision making capability of the
farmers and strengthens their bargaining power. At
present, the information is disseminated through various media like radio, newspapers,
blackboard display and public address system at Wholesale Market
yards. The information provided by these methods has a limited use and does not help much
to the farmers in taking decisions in marketing of their produce.
The farmers are also not able to know about the prices prevailing in other
markets, as the Market Committees are able to disseminate information mostly in
respect of their own markets. The farmers are, therefore, left with no alternative but to dispose off their
produce in the nearest market, even at uneconomic prices. Further,
the market intelligence data are presently compiled in registers, which are
difficult to maintain. It is also difficult to analyse the voluminous
information thus collected for making decision. Therefore, a need has been felt
to improve the existing market information system by linking all the important Wholesale Markets in
the States and Union Territories, the State Agricultural Marketing Boards,
and State Agricultural Marketing Directorates, under Agricultural Marketing Information Network, by installing
computer facilities and connecting with NICNET for Internet and Intranet
services.
During the Arab Agricultural Revolution, a
fundamental transformation in agricultural practice tied in with significant
economic change. This transformation involved diffusion of many crops and
plants along Muslim trade routes, the spread of more advanced farming
techniques, and an agricultural-economic system which promoted increased yields
and efficiency. In addition to significant changes in economy, population distribution,
vegetation cover, agricultural production, population levels, urban growth, the
distribution of the labour force, and numerous other aspects of life in the Islamic
world were affected. The economic system in place in Muslim areas during this
time incorporated reformed land ownership rules and labourers' rights,
combining the recognition of private ownership and the rewarding of cultivators
with a harvest share commensurate with their efforts also improved agricultural
practices. The cities of the Near East, North Africa and Moorish Spain were
supported by highly structured agricultural systems which required significant
labor inputs. Such regional systems were often significantly more productive
than the agricultural practices in most of Europe at the time which relied
heavily on grazing animals and systems of fallowing.
The demographics of medieval Islamic
society varied in some significant aspects from other agricultural societies,
including a decline in birth rates as well as a change in life expectancy.
Other traditional agrarian societies are estimated to have had an average life
expectancy of 20 to 25 years, while ancient Rome and medieval Europe are estimated
at 20 to 30 years. Conrad I. Lawrence estimates the average lifespan in the
early Islamic Caliphate to be above 35 years for the general population, and
several studies on the lifespans of Islamic scholars concluded that members of
this occupational group enjoyed a life expectancy between 69 and 75 years,
though this longevity was not representative of the general population. The
early Islamic Empire also had the highest literacy rates among pre-modern
societies, alongside the city of classical Athens in the 4th century BC, and
later, China after the introduction of printing from the 10th century. One
factor for the relatively high literacy rates in the early Islamic Empire was
its parent-driven educational marketplace, as the state did not systematically
subsidize educational services until the introduction of state funding under
Nizam al-Mulk in the 11th century. Another factor was the diffusion of paper
from China, which led to an efflorescence of books and written culture in
Islamic society, thus papermaking technology transformed Islamic society (and
later, the rest of Afro-Eurasia) from an oral to scribal culture, comparable to
the later shifts from scribal to typographic culture, and from typographic
culture to the Internet. Other factors include the widespread use of paper
books in Islamic society (more so than any other previously existing society),
the study and memorization of the Qur'an, flourishing commercial activity, and
the emergence of the Maktab and Madrasah educational institutions.
What
are the views of the Islamic scholars on agriculture marketing? The word
‘market simply means the place or all the market structure for selling and
buying. While the word ‘marketing’ is known as ‘Bai’ ’, denotes the realtionship
between the buyer and the seller. In the Islamic perspective, the word quietly
expresses the buyer’s desire/need towards the product and the ability of the
seller to fulfill that desire/need through transferring his products to the
buyer in return of another product by barter or in cash and all conducted under
the perscriptions of the Sharia. Let us examince one or two among the Islamic
definitions and scope of Bai’. Sheikh Afzal-ar-Rahman rightly said: “According
to the Muslim jurists, exchange is defined as the transference of one’s goods
in return for the goods or another by mutual consent”. Thus, “Bai”
or “Sale” are defined as: “The delivery of a definite object which possesse
legal value in exchange for something equivalent in value ( called the price)”
by Professor A.J. Doi. From this two definitions, it is clearly that the market
is a means of human mutul interaction and a physical station of the continuance
of supply and demand. If it is governed by appropriate rules and regulations,
it would definitely keep the socio-economic equilibrium of any nation from
collapsing.
Futhermore,
in Islam, the market is considered as the very aspect physically exposes the
greatness and benevolence of Allah between His creations. It is a mirror to see
Allah’s wisdom of creating mankind at different capacities of earning and
wanting. A glance at the periodical fluctuations of the market also ensures
that. This can also be boldly observed through the following verses: “It is
We who portion out between then their livelihood in the life of this world. And
we raise some of work from other” (Q 80:2-28). He also says: “O you who
believe, eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities. But let there
be amongst you traffic and trade by mutual good will” (Q 4:29). He also
said: “Allah has permitted trade and forbidden usury” (Q 2:275). “O
you who believe! When you deal with each other in transactions involving future
obligations in a fixed period of time, reduce them to writing, let a scribe
write down faithfully as between the parties. But if it can be a transaction
which you carry out on the spot among yourselves there is no blame on you if
you reduce it not to writing” (Q 2:282). These verses and a lot of others
indicate that the scope of the market, in the Islamic perspective, is be
governed by mutual consent and must be regulated by high moral standards to
ensure stability, prosperity and complete the physical and spiritual
development of both the producer and the consumer.
Lastly,
this highlights a number of significant issues. The introductory part deals
with the importance of the agriculture sector and Islamic point of view on the
right ownership. While the main body
tackles the basic principles governing the marketing of agriculture
produce in Islam and also western country are boldly discussed. It is also
stated about the Arab Agriculture Revolution which it is developed and
transformed. Likewise, the distribution of the products and marketing channels
which the product passes through up to the ultimate consumer are all summarily
treated. Of course, the importance of weight and measurement in agricultural
products is very important. It, undoubtedly, needs a strong regulation for
assuring justice and for the benefit of the people. For this reason, it is
considerably touched upon. Conclusively, it would good for the producer to
adopt new techniques that can help his industry grow immensely from small scale
something to larger, as the Muslim is encouraged to achieve his goal of earning
halal and disseminat goodness to other beings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_agriculture
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