eChapters

The market research process is equally critical to rural marketing as to urban marketing because of two main reasons:

• The marketer has a limited understanding of the rural/urban consumer
• The marketer who is urban-oriented may need to find different ways to understand the decision variables in the urban market.

A marketing strategy of a business is the game plan of an organization for approaching its target market effectively. Marketing strategy is also used to target the prospective customer and converting them into loyal consumers for the brand and services being offered by the companies.

A marketing strategy is the building block of a marketing plan and consists of the value which the company wants to offer, its key message which the company wants to convey to the target market and other elements which are key in the area of marketing.

Agriculture marketing and Rural marketing are two words used interchangeably by the people at large with the study of agriculture and management discipline. India is known to the world for its agricultural growth through the green revolution. India is an agriculture-based and oriented economy with approximately six and a half lakh villages predominantly involved in agricultural and agri-based activities. Rural India is termed as the backbone of the Indian economy and it contributes significantly to the economy and to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in terms of providing food grains (Cereals and Pulses), vegetables, and fruits which are essential ingredients for human life.

Father of sociology: Auguste Comte

The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte (1789-1875).

Sociology word comes from two roots i.e. Latin word ‘socius’ meaning companion Greek word ‘logos’ meaning speech or reasoning.

Sociology: Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social actions, social structure and functions.

Rural sociology: The study of social life of peoples lives in rural areas.

Social organization: The study of the various institutions, social groups, social stratification, social mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations, and other similar subjects such as education, politics, religion, economy etc.

Social psychology: The study of human nature as an outcome of group life, social attitudes, collective behavior, and personality formation.

Social change: Alteration in the structure and function of society. It may be structural, functional and cultural changes and it deals with the study of such current problems in society such as juvenile delinquency, criminality, drug addiction, family conflicts, divorce, population problems etc.

Women have contributed significantly and selflessly since ancient times to uplifting and bettering any nation. A literate woman builds a country; truth cannot be closer than that. Women have always carried the burden of being a wife, mothers, sisters and daughters, all on their own magnificently. They are leaders, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and service providers in different fields. The valuable contributions of women are significant to the well-being of families and communities and the economic growth of any society. Rural women have tremendous potential for developing culture, and their leadership, participation, and education will help eradicate poverty and hunger.

Since time immemorial, women have played and continued to play a key role in conservation of basic life support system, such as, land, water, flora and fauna. Women power at present constitutes nearly half of the global population and account one third of the total work force. They contribute more than half of duties and responsibilities but are not given proper rights. In India till now rural women continue to struggle with dual responsibilities of economic production and domestic labour, and most are confronted by poverty, illiteracy, high health risks, inadequate access to productive resources, and lack of credit/market access. The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, political, legal and economic status is essential for sustainable rural development

The decadal Census, 2011 puts India’s population at 121.08 crores (cr.), split into 83.37 cr. of rural and 37.71 cr. of urban inhabitants. Of the total population, the working population was 48.18 Cr. comprising primary workers at 36.25 cr.

Regarding gender analysis, the male and female populations counted 62.32 and 58.75 crores, respectively. The female population was rural-dominated,with 42.77 crores living in villages and 10.51 crores in urban centres.The Census also showed that the women accounted for a substantive size of the working population, 14.99 crores (12.19 rural+2.80 urban). The primary workers of this female working population were as high as 8.93 crores, with 6.77 crores living in rural India and 2.15 crores in urban centres. The details may be seen in Table 1.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is an important economic activity in India, contributing around 50% for the employment generation and 14% to the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. Being a subsistence activity, agriculture shares maximum contribution in the national economy. However, the income generated from agriculture is not sufficient to engage the rural youth in farming profession. Lack of economic incentives coupled with other factors like lack of infrastructure for education, and opportunities for employment lead to the migration of the rural youth to the urban areas. Migration of human population can be both interstate as well as intrastate to establish a new permanent or semi-permanent residence. According to the 2001 census, total number of migrants is 314 million by the last residence. Of these 85% of the migration is intrastate while 13% migration is interstate. Approximately 20 million people have migrated from rural areas to urban areas; the reason for migration was predominantly marriage for females, and employment and education for males. This phenomenon has resulted in decrease in the work force in the villages leading over labour population in urban areas – those results in low wages due to competition and wide spread poverty. The situation becomes worse when the youth drop out from the formal education system and move to the urban areas in search of better employment opportunities. This unskilled labour constitute the labour class in the urban areas, and due to the low wages received by them, they remain economically vulnerable. This situation is aggravated by the biased government policies for the rural youth, lack of awareness and ever spreading poverty. Thus, it is important to understand the factors responsible for the youth migration from rural to urban areas and effect of this migration on both rural and urban economy. This paper highlights the issue of youth migration from rural areas to urban areas in search of better education and employment opportunities and its consequences. Further, the policies are described in brief for the involvement of the rural youth in rural economy.

The progress and prosperity of a nation depends to a large extent on well trained and disciplined youth. The youth of today are the adults of tomorrow and farm families of the future. More than half of the India’s population is below 35 years of age. Majority of these young people live in village where they do not have adequate opportunities for vocational training and formal schooling. This vast youth population has limitless energy and enthusiasm. The proper chanalization of this energy for constructive work can make India one of the most developed and prosperous nations of the world. Youth are the future of India, it is therefore, essential to harness them in an organized manner to build up the backbone of the country. If they are given good training they grow up as individuals-physically, mentally and morally capable of playing their full part as adult members of our welfare society.

Youth, defined as those who belong to the age group of 13-35 in the National Youth policy 2003 of India, is considered to be the most vital segment of the population. Across the globe youth is being treated as an asset for a country’s development and enormous investment is being made to develop the human capital. The challenge of nations like India with ‘Youth Bulge’ in their population is to channelize the energy into positive and creative development process. Youth in the 21st Century aspires for a just global order,  They are looking for democratic process in all spheres of life, whether it is education, employment or decision making.  The issues and concerns of youth are fast changing in tune with the technological innovations.

ABSTRACT

Youth denotes-”Young, Original, Unique, Talented, and Hopeful”. Youths represent the most active segment of the population and the engine that do most productive work of the society (Adesope, 1996). Youths are a formidable force in the agricultural production, process, constituting a sizeable proportion of future progressive farmers and better citizens, especially in the rural areas. Fifty percent of Indian population has average age group 25 and more than 65 percent below the age of 35 years therefore United Nations (2005) defines youth as ‘all individuals aged between 15 and 24 year’ and declared 2014 as the “International Year of Family Farming”. Family farming is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family labour, including both of women and men.

1. AN OVERVIEW OF RWANDA’S SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING

Rwanda is a small landlocked country located in East Africa covering a total surface area of 26,338 km². It lies about 120 km south of the Equator and is bordered by Uganda in the North, Tanzania in the east, Burundi in the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West. According to the national official statistics, the total population is approximately 8,200,000 people, with women accounting for 55 per cent of the people. The country’s population density is 505 people per km², making it one of the most densely populated countries in Africa (National Institute of Statistics, 2002). Since the turn of the millennium, the annual growth rate of the population has been 2.9 per cent and it is believed that by the year 2020, the country will have an estimated population of 20 million, thus exerting pressure on the limited land resources. It is also important to note that most people (64 per cent), those living in abject poverty, reside in rural areas of the country (Government of Rwanda, 2008).

Saccharification: The process of breaking a complex carbohydrate (starch or cellulose) into its monosaccharide components is called saccharification.

Saccharimeter: A device (polarimeter) used for measuring the amount of sugar in a solution is called saccharimeter. It is also known as saccharometer. It is a hydrometer with a special scale.

Saccharin: A crystalline compound C7 H5 NO3 S that is unrelated to the carbohydrates, is several hundred times sweeter than sucrose, and is used as a calorie free sweetener.

Saccharomyces: It is one of the genus (Saccharomyces) of the family Saccharomycetaceae and is usually unicellular yeasts (brewer’s yeast) that are distinguished by their sparse or absent mycelium and reproduced asexually by budding.

Safe food: Food that provide maximum nutrition and quality while revealing a minimal hazard to public health and they assume any risk present to be minimal.

Packaging is an essential tool to make products stand out from the competition. Beyond the shelf appeal, packaging also provides protection to the contents from physical, chemical and microbiological hazards. However, a lesser known fact is that the same packaging material could also be a source of chemical contaminants, and hence, may impact food safety as well as food quality. Among the different components of packaging material, packaging inks play a critical role as they might hamper product and consumer safety.

Each packaging ink is a mixture of different chemicals and some of these chemicals might be harmful with the potential to migrate to the foodstuff. In terms of risk, the chemicals could be toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, repro-toxic and even endocrine disruptors. The chemical contaminants from the packaging inks can get transferred to the foodstuff by a process called migration.

Over the last two decades, a number of scientific papers have been published, revealing the migration potential of substances from the printed matter. However, the first big scandal that brought the subject alive was about the f indings of isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX, a low molecular photo initiator used in UV inks) in baby milk and other liquid foodstuffs all over Europe, resulting in a product recall in the year 2005. The food scandal alerted the packaging chain about the linkage between packaging inks and food safety. Consequently, the authorities issued strict regulations for the application of printing inks as well as general food control measures.

1. Introduction

Storage is an important part of any food grain processing chain. Storage of raw and processed food grain has been used by humans since time immemorial as a prerequisite for insuring food security due to off time availability, and for holding seed grain for long periods (Pande and Mishra, 2012). After harvesting grains may be required to be stored for long periods before these are marketed or used as food or seed. The grain storage is mainly carried out for three purposes viz (i) to retain a supply of food (ii) to service a trading system and (iii) to retain seed for planting the following season (Hall, 1980). Storage is, therefore, carried out by the producer, trader, processor, and the exporter and at all these levels the methods adopted affect the quality of food stuffs. The length of time grains can be safely stored will depend on the condition it was harvested and the type of storage facility being utilized. Grain storage and handling is a major concern for food grain growers and processers worldwide (Mohan et al., 2011; Pande and Mishra, 2012). Depending upon the condition and uses food grains may be stored in different storage structures using traditional or modern storage methods. Different storage structures are used by farmers with the traditional names like Gumma, Oliya and Jute bag. Caswell (1973) recorded 50 to 60% of insect damage on food grain after six months of traditional storage. A typical range of storage methods encountered in tropics and subtropics region is given in Table 1.

The dairy processing industry in India deals mainly with the fluid milk and/or short shelf life products, despite India being the largest producer of milk in the world, with an output bordering the 110 million ton mark. This feature offers immense potential in the area of R&D in dairy processing in terms of value addition. The potential gains are many, including higher returns for producers and advantages in terms of health, therapeutic, nutritional and/or gastronomy for the consumers. However, the Indian Dairy Industry can amass possible benefits by being a global contender in trade only when its products are at par with those available in the rest of the world in terms of price and quality. It is evident from the post-WTO scenario that for sustainability, Indian dairy industry will need to maintain wholehearted commitment to quality management right from the farm to the consumer, shedding its inhibitions and resistance to changes.

9.1. WTO Agreements and Food Industry

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was formed in 1947 and lasted until 1994, when it was replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. It provides a forum for negotiating agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring fair deal for all, thus contributing to economic growth and development. Currently, there are 16 agreements to which all WTO members are parties and two agreements to which only some WTO members are parties. WTO currently has 153 members, of which 117 are developing countries or separate customs territories. The Head Quarters of WTO is at Geneva (Switzerland) and the official languages are English, French and Spanish.

Introduction

The dairy sector is one of the most important food sectors, which introduced the physical, chemical, microbiological and sensorial criteria duringprocessing steps and in the final dairy products. Several agents/ingredients of non-dairy origin are commonly used to maintain the quality of milk and milk products during processing, transportation and storage. In general, such ingredients are known as food additives and it can be antioxidants, coloring agents, flavoring compounds, preservatives(naturals and synthetic),artificialsweeteners, vitamins, minerals, stabilizers, emulsifiers and curing agents. From the safety point of view, some toxic agents can come into contact of dairy products duringmilking, storage or processing; such as fungal toxins, heavy metals, antibiotics or radionuclide’s, etc., which need to be identified and processed accordingly. Although addition of food additives in food/dairy product is controlled under country specific food laws or Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), few dairyproducts such as butter and unflavored fermented milk products are highly restricted for food additives.

Introduction

Food packaging materials development has been driven by the need to protect food products throughout distribution and storage. Nanotechnology offers opportunities to improve technical packaging features and develop sustainable smart packaging and sensors for monitoring product quality over time. However, the inherent permeability of conventional packaging materials to atmospheric gases and water vapour poses challenges in maintaining optimal conditions for food. The integration of nanotechnology into food packaging has emerged as a promising solution to address these challenges. Nanocomposite materials, composed of a polymer matrix and nanoscale fillers, offer a novel approach to enhancing packaging performance while addressing issues related to food spoilage, degradation, and safety.

Nanocomposite materials encompass a range of nanomaterials, including inorganic (i.e., metals and metal oxides), nanoclay, organic nanomaterials, and nanoemulsions (Huang et al., 2018; Jamaleddin et al., 2019; P. Kumar et al., 2020). NMs are used for three types of packaging: improved packaging, active packaging and intelligent packaging, Nanotechnology facilitates the development of improved bio-based packaging, enhancing mechanical strength and barrier performance while maintaining stability under varying environmental conditions (S. Kumar et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2020). Active packaging harnesses nanostructures to encapsulate bioactive compounds, encompassing antimicrobials, antioxidants, and oxygen scavengers, which can interact with food and extend its shelf life (Motelica et al., 2020). Intelligent packaging releases active compounds in response to environmental triggers such as temperature or pH changes, transforming packaging into an intelligent, actively responsive material (Jamróz et al., 2019).

For a researcher, laboratory is another home where he/she spends much time every day. As we take care of cleanliness, safety, and design of our home, we must take care on these aspects of laboratory too. It is the responsibility of the laboratory personnel to ensure cleanliness/safety of the laboratory. Since every laboratory chemical and equipment have the potential to cause harms if not used with appropriate precautions. Hence, as a laboratory user, it is our responsibility to follow the basic safety/biosafety rules and regulations set up by the Principal Investigator of the laboratory, Institutional Biosafety Committee, as well as by other regulatory authorities, if any. We must be aware of the general/personal protective measures, cleanliness and laboratory waste disposal prior to joining a research laboratory. In this chapter we will briefly discuss about personal safety, chemical safety, cleanliness, waste disposal, etc.

A. Personal Safety

1. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is special arrangement to protect the worker from specific hazards because of using a hazardous substance. PPE does not reduce or eliminate the hazard, but protects the wearer from exposure to hazardous material. PPE should not be reused or brought outside the laboratory as these might increase the risk of spread hazardous material or contamination. Used PPE must be kept inside the laboratory in a designated waste storage area adjacent to the work area.

Sales and distribution determine whether a technically excellent ice cream product successfully reaches consumers in the required condition and at the right time. This chapter examines the architecture of ice cream distribution in India, including factory dispatch, CFAs, distributors, retailers, parlours, modern trade, quick commerce, and online channels. It discusses route-to-market design, presales, delivery systems, distribution management, retail execution, outlet classification, freezer deployment, and channel economics. Product flow and information flow are considered together because sales data, stock information, complaints, freezer conditions, and market feedback influence production and planning decisions. The chapter provides practical insights into distribution KPIs, channel management, cold-chain discipline, and strategies for sustainable market growth.