Preface Agricultural marketing management deals with various activities of agricultural enterprise to achieve the objectives of higher productivity in its marketing operation by making optimum use of the available resources, enhancing the productivity of enterprise with the consumer oriented marketing. The book is divided into twelve chapters that dealing with all the relevant topics. All these chapters have been presented in a logical sequence, simple, lucid style with full emphasis on basic concepts of the subjects. This book has signify and confirm provide basic knowledge about market, agricultural marketing, marketing management, marketing research, marketing channels, as well as to impart knowledge about Buyer behavior, Demand and Sales forecasting, Pricing policies, Product Planning and Sales promotion techniques, Entrepreneurship etc. that will be helpful for setting a business enterprise for improving market infrastructure, direct and group marketing, establishment of modern marketing and processing units, market integration and the improvement of the overall efficiency of the agricultural marketing system. I hope the contents of this book would go a long way in guiding the students, academicians, policy makers, administrators, economists, researchers and managerial personnel to develop, such policies and programmes which would help the stakeholders in improving their knowledge level and managerial aspects. I hope that this will be a useful addition to the discipline of agricultural marketing management. I am especially indebted to the authors whose works are cited throughout the book and acknowledged to individuals, institutions and Publishers in which the articles originally appeared. I dedicate this book to the marketing professionals related to agricultural and marketing management.

Concept and Meaning of Market Agricultural marketing management offers key insights into the agricultural and rural development today. Agricultural marketing and its management is an essential element of every economic activity. It is a most creative, dynamic and challenging activity for every kind of enterprises. Agricultural marketing management has significantly changed and it comprises numerous aspects of the needs of the customers over the selling and distribution of agricultural goods and services to customer and adds value to agricultural products and facilitates marketing and agribusiness opportunities in the economy. It deals with identifying and meeting human and social needs.

Marketing Strategy Marketing strategy is an integral part of marketing planning. In modern day business terms, strategy refers to the matching of the activities of an organization to the environment in which it operates and to its own resource capabilities. Definition: Marketing strategy is the complete and unbeatable plan, designed especially for attaining the marketing objectives of the firm/business unit. The marketing objectives indicate what the firm wants to achieve, the marketing strategy provides the design for achieving them. e.g. marketing objective of a business unit in the next year (2016) to achieve sales revenue of Rs. 2,000 crore and net profit will be 15 per cent on sales revenue. Then it is the job of marketing strategy to indicate how and where from this sale and profit will come, which product lines/products/brands will accomplish this task and how?

Marketing Information System (MIS) Market information is crucial to effective marketing management. Business success now requires a sustainable and cutting-edge knowledge base. Information becomes knowledge when it is discriminated, classified, processed and assembled in an appropriate manner. Knowledge is the final entity in the sequence. Marketing decisions are based on marketing information and research. The scientific decisions are based always on the facts and figures. The information based decisions are useful for solving day to day problems. Marketing information are the facts and figures required for taking the marketing decisions. Marketing information assists marketing decisions in right perspectives. The marketing managers are expected to get all the relevant information. They have to evaluate the information for their purposes. The utilities of each source of information are assessed to have optimum use of the resources. Good information improves decision making process. The marketing managers have to make decisions based on available information and try to collect adequate and correct information from all sources. Establishment of an effective marketing information system (MIS) is essential for adequate and correct marketing decisions.

Marketing Channel Marketing Channel is an organised network of agencies and institutions which in combination perform all the activities required to link producers with users to accomplish the marketing tasks. Marketing channel is the route taken by a product as it moves from the producer to the consumer. It is a part of value chain – what the customers are prepared to pay for goods and services and all activities carried out in chain. Marketing channels are sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of making a product or service available for use/consumption. Channels normally describe a forward-movement of products from sources to user. Reverse flow channels is used to reuse or recycle products, and to recycling or disposal of solid waste (ecological goods).

Grading and Standardization Grading and standardization is marketing function which facilitates the movement of produce. Grading standards for commodities are laid down first & then the commodities are sorted out according to the accepted standards. Grading means grouping the products into different classes (which posses the same characteristics) in accordance with the predetermined standards. Grading as the division of products into/commodities into classes made up of units possessing similar characteristics of size and quantity. Grading follows standardization. It is a sub function of standardization.

Consumer Behaviour / Buyers Behaviour Marketing management can succeed easily and smoothly of the behaviour of present & potential consumers are understood properly. Marketing success or failure depends on target customers individual and group reactions. The individual buyer behaves in a different design and pattern depending upon the internal & external marketing environment. The individual attitude & motivation along with economic conditions influence the consumers to behave in a certain fashion. The consumer behaviour is primarily understood in the content of consumption goods. The factors influencing their behaviours are demographic, economic, sociological, cultural and psychological. The aim of marketing is to need and satisfy target customers needs & wants. The field of consumer behaviour studies how individuals, groups and organizations select, buy, use & dispose of goods, services, ideas or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires.

Demand & Sales Forecasting Demand: Demand usually means effective desire/ willingness for a product. It normally refers to the quantity of a product or services which the buyers are likely to purchase at different prices in a given market at a given time. The laws of demand states that the price and quantity demanded are inversely related, other things remaining the same (income, tastes, habits, weather, season, region, price of related commodity etc.).

Pricing Pricing goods and services is a critical job to maximize the profit of business organizations. Price is the most important determinant of the profitability of the business. Setting the right price can influence the quantities of various products or services that consumers will buy, which in turn determines the total revenue and the profit of the business. Price is the only element in the marketing mix of a firm that generate revenue. The price of a product or service is the number of monetary units a customer has to pay to receive one unit of product or service (Simon, 1989).

Product Anything that possesses utility is described as goods. A product is both what a seller sell and what a buyer has to buy.  According to Phillip Kotler: A product is anything that can be offered in a market for attention acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. It includes physical objects, services, persons, places, organisation and ideas. According to Stanton: A product is a set of tangible and intangible attributes, including packaging, colour, price, manufacturer’s prestige, retailer prestige and services which the buyer may accept as offering satisfaction or wants or needs.

Promotion Mix The main objectives of promotion mix are to seek buyer’s attention towards the product with a view to : (1) arouse consumer interest in the product (2) inform consumer about the product availability (3) inform the consumer as how is it different from others.

Sales Management According to American marketing Association “Sales management is the planning, direction and control of personal selling, including recruiting, selecting, equipping, assigning, routing, supervising, paying and motivating as these tasks apply to the personal sales force.”

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is an activity which helps the entrepreneur to bring changes in the process of production, innovation in production, new usage of materials, creator of market etc. It is a mental attitude to foresee risk and uncertainty with a view to achieve certain strong motives. The word entrepreneur derived from French verb ‘Enterprendre’ means “to undertake”. An entrepreneur should have “creative and innovative ideas”. It refers to successful business men who strive hard not only for gain himself in his economic activities but also to grow in all spheres of life. According to Joseph A. Schumpeter: Entrepreneur is one who innovates, raises money, assembles inputs, chooses managers and sets the commercial organizations going with his ability to identify them and opportunities which others are not able to identify and is able to fulfil such economic opportunities.

Selected Bibliography Acharya, S. S. and N. L. Agarwal (2011). Agricultural Marketing in India, Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Acharya, S. S. and N. L. Agarwal (1994). Agricultural Prices- Analysis and Policy, Oxford & IBH Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, Barry Berman and Joel R. Evans (1986). Retail Management- A Strategic Approach, MacMillan, New York. Basotia G.R & Sharma K.K. (1999). Handbook of Entrepreneurship Development, Mangal Deep Publications, Jaipur. Chand, Ramesh (2011). Agricultural Marketing, Educational Publishers and Distributors, Delhi. Desai, Vasant (2010). Entrepreneurial Development, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi. Dewett, K.K. and Verma J.D. (2004). Elementary Economic Theory, S. Chand & Company, New Delhi. Gandhi J.C. (1985). Marketing –A Managerial Introduction, Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi. Gandotra. V. and Divatia. A. (2005). Consumer Education, New Delhi, Dominant Publishers. George E. Belch and Michael A. Belch (1995). Introduction to Advertising and Promotion- An Integrated Markeing Communications Perspective, IRWIN, Chicago. Gupta, C. B. and N. P. Srinivasan (2000). Entrepreneurship Development in India, Sultan Chand and Sons Educational Publishers, New Delhi. Johl, S. S. and T. R. Kapur (1987). Fundamentals of Farm Business Management, Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana. J.M. Diwan (1999). Marketing Management- Concepts and Issues, Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi. Jerome E. Mc Carthy & William D. Perreault (1993). Basic Marketing – A Global Managerial Approach, 11th edition, IRWIN Series, Sydney. Kahlon, A. S. and M. V. George (1985). Agricultural Marketing and Price Policies, Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Karunakaran, K. (2008). Marketing Management, Himalaya Publishing House, New Delhi. Keith Blois (2008). Text Book of Marketing, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.