Abstract

In a country like India which is and is bound to remain so predominantly agricultural, the importance of a rational system of marketing cannot be over-emphasised. A mere improvement in production does not very often confer a proportionate benefit on the grower or assist to improve his economic position, because the grower who is ordinarily an indebted man is compelled to soll his produce immediately after the harvest, which usually coincides with a slump in the market. The middleman or the village petty merchant and the wholesale dealer in the assembling centre often get a much bigger share of the price paid by the consumer than the actual producer who labours in the field for a full season. Any plan for improving the lot of the village farmer must therefore, tackle the problem of rural marketing and enable the producer to get as big a share of the price paid by the consumer as possible, eliminating the share of the middle men as much as practicable. This in fact is the aim of all the Regulated Markets controlled by Market Committees set up under the Madras Commercial Crop Markets Act 1933. Though the Regulated Markets seek to assist the grower in many ways, such as bringing the producer into direct contact with the purchaser, elimination of unauthorised deductions and allowances, restricting. of brokerage and commission charges to reasonable levels, ensuring cash payment on the spot and the like, the most important service rendered is in the system of fixing the prices for the produce brought into the market. If the price fixation is to be done to the best advantage of the grower the following conditions have to be satisfied.

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