Resource Library

Needs Assessment of Agricultural Market Information

Author : Samantha, N.P.C., and Wijesuriya,W.A.N.

Publisher: Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute

Place of Publish: Sri Lanka, Colombo

Year: 2016

Page Numbers: 26

Acc. No: 5008

Class No: 338.1 SAM-SL

Category: Books & Reports

Subjects: Agriculture

Type of Resource: Monograph

Languages: English

ISBN: 978-955-612-212-1

The use of improved agricultural market information in developing economies increases with the change of agriculture from diversified-subsistence to more specialised-commercial production. Market information can be defined as all information about the buying and selling of products and services. It is much more than merely providing information about prices and quantities and it should include all the information throughout the marketing process. In Sri Lanka marketing information is collected, analysed and disseminated by several governments as well as private institutions, especially after the liberalisation of the economy in 1977. The importance of sound agricultural marketing policies for ensuring fair returns to the farmers can hardly be over-emphasised. Therefore, it becomes necessary for regulatory agencies to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers for the sales of their produce, to boost their efforts for increasing and sustaining the agricultural production. Various measures such as regulation of markets, grading of agricultural produce and cooperative marketing have been taken by the governments to safeguard the interests of farmers. Still the benefits are not tricking down to the farmers, as they are unable to plan their strategies for sale of their produce at remunerative prices, in the absence of correct and timely market information and advice on arrivals, prices, market trend etc. Therefore, it is essential to identify the need for agricultural market information of all the stakeholders in agricultural marketing process.