Description
Competitiveness pertains to the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and services in a given market, in relation to the ability and performance of other firms, sub-sectors or countries in the same market.
Assam Agriculture Competitiveness Project For Market Study
Market Study
The National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) is a premier National level Institute set up by the Government of India in August 1988 to offer specialized Training, Research and Consultancy, and education in Agricultural Marketing. NIAM is an autonomous body under Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. NIAM is conducting and comprehensive Sector Market of Assam study of
Agriculture funded by
Horticulture Bank
Assam
Rural
Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS). The Project is World through Agricultural Competitiveness Project (AACP).
National Institute of Agricultural Marketing Kota Road, Bambala, Jaipur- 302033 Ph No 0141 2795104 Fax: 0141 2771938 www.ccsniam.gov.in
.
THE PRESENT MARKET STUDY AIMS AT STIMULATING MARKET DRIVEN INTENSIFICATION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION TO PAVE WAY TO SEEK BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR FARMERS & CONSUMERS OF THE STATE.
OBJECTIVES: The project aims to build a to build up a body of knowledge on the market, its system, present conditions and opportunities for farmers, trade, agribusiness ventures and other market participants.
The project focused identify major production centres and their comparative advantages. Estimate the size of the market for key agricultural and horticultural produce with marketable / marketed surplus, and possible potential to achieve import substitution & develop exports. Assess relative importance of different marketing channels. Collect information on important agri-business, traders and relevant trader associations and study new market opportunities and investments in liberalized economy. Understanding key criteria affecting consumers purchasing habits of food products. Projection of expected growth in sales of major products and estimation of additional farm income accrued there upon by the year 2015. Preparation of market intelligence. Producing commercial information on products for use in marketing extension Identification of market opportunities for Assam farmers and producers.
FOCUS: ? ? ? ? Agriculture and Horticulture Dairy Products Fisheries Livestock Products
APROACH: ? Participatory ? Producer oriented ? Futuristic
The Project will accomplished with constant discussion with ARIAS officers , District Marketing Oficers, Block Level teams. Farmers , Panchayat and Communities will be the focus point of the study . The study would be inclusive of the producers and communities. ? Location of the study
The study encompass 23 districts of Assam. Producers survey envisages interviewing 250 farmers across 6 agro-climatic zones KNOWLEDGE LINKAGES: ? Directorate of Agriculture, Horticulture Animal Husbandry, Dairy Assam ? State Marketing Board, Assam ? SFAC ? NEDFI ? Jorhat University of Agriculture ? College of Horticulture, Guwahati . of the state. Market intermediaries and other functionaries will be conveniently selected out of total market sample. In all 60 wholesale markets and 180 rural hats and 80 agribusiness ventures spread across the states will be surveyed. KEY PERSONALS; The project will be implemented under the leadership of Sh Director General, NIAM. The Principal Coordinator of the Project was Dr Hema Yadav, Deputy Director, and professional specialists in Agriculture and Horticulture,
?
Livestock, Fisheries, Dairy Products. We acknowledge the Contributions of ? ? ? ? ? Shri G H Dhankar, Specialist – Agri and Horti Dr Anjani Kumar, Specialist Livestock Dr Rameswar Deka, Specialist Dairy Products Sh Ganesh Baruah, Specialist- Fisheries Shri Partho Patwari Specialist- Dairy Products
Marketing
in
changed
circumstances involves ? Finding out what
your customers want ? Supplying it to them at a profit. ?
THE MARKET STUDY OF FISHERIES IN ASSAM
The Market Study of fisheries in Assam has been taken up with the objective of building body of knowledge on status of fishery, marketing and the opportunities for the producers of Assam. Accordingly market survey of fisheries in all the districts of Assam was carried out. The present report delves on the preset water resources, its utilization status in terms of fish production and possible scope for incremental fish production and distribution has been taken into consideration for suggestive improvement. The report has collected primary information on marketing related aspects. The report highlights the potential of fisheries resources for production of marketable fishes, through various fish cultural approaches, availability of input like fish seeds, fish feed etc. Management of natural fisheries like river fisheries & beel fisheries has also been discussed separately. Two potential fisheries avenues namely dry fish trade and ornamental fish trade has been dealt in separate chapters.
The basic objective of the survey is to ascertain the efficiency of the present fish marketing system in Assam and the role played by the different stakeholders in the marketing system. The
marketing of fish is normally faced with unique problem largely emanating from the nature of fish production. These include greater uncertainty with fish production, highly perishable nature of fish, assembling of fish from scattered landing centers, too many species and as many demand patterns, frequent fluctuation in prices, transportation requirement. The present fish marketing scenarios in Assam is vested with the trader groups and no major intervention of Government has been experienced. Based on Primary survey and other means of data collection on fish
marketing system, a vivid picture of the existing system with improvement suggestions has been focused. The water bodies of Assam fall under the purview of private fisheries and Govt fisheries. The Govt has control over reverine as well as the beels. The management of registered fisheries is distributed amongst Revenue Department, AFDC, Department of Fisheries and Panchayat Department.
The report also presents the case studies on dry fish market of Jagiroad, Morigaon District, Fish seed production programme of All Barpeta District fish seeds production Society, Dabaliapara
Barpeta District and Gangakhauri Beel Fishery of Hailakandi District to bring for the the efforts of the people and Soceities in improving fish marketing.
Fishery sector of Assam at a glance Assam has abundant productive and diversified water resources to support surplus fish production to feel the growing fish eating population of the state. However the present level of production of fish is far below the carrying capacity of the water bodies, which requires a concerted effort from all fronts to achieve maximum production level.
Assam is the most resourceful State in surface area in N.E. Region with coverage of 3.90 lakh hectares of water area in the form of wetlands, beels, ponds, tanks, etc including two major river systems – the Brahmaputra and the Barak and their tributaries.
The present level of Annual fish production is 1.81-lakh MT. against estimated demand of 3 lakh MT, calculated on the basis of minimum nutritional requirement of 11 kg. Per capita. The gap is partially met by importing fish from other States. The present per capita consumption is about 7.3 kg. The under utilization of resources as stated above as well as the deficit in the availability of the fish and its high prices indicate the high potential for development of this sector in the state.
Fish farming as a profitable commercial activity is gradually gaining popularity. In some pockets in the district of Kamrup, Nagaon, Morigaon, Cachar, Karimganj, Darrang and Barpeta farmers have taken up seed and fish farming on commercial basis. However, there are difficulties in the inputs availability of quality seed, feed, funds and technology transfer.
Growth rate in fisheries sector is almost at the same level with annual increase of about 2.65% only. This is because the gradual decline of fish catches from riverine captures fishery has not been surpassed by the aquaculture growth in pond and maintain its sustainability in capture fisheries and augment production in culture fisheries to its optimum level. In addition, related infrastructure and proper marketing need to be developed. (Source: SFAC)
The Assam vision 2025 (India) aims for surplus production of fish & fisheries product by 2025 beyond the local market demand of the state keeping the target of 22 kg. per capita consumption against the present consumption of 7.5 kg. per person. As per envisaged strategic approach a production of 7.72 lakh M.T. has been planned by 2025. To achieve the envisaged production target, enhanced level of awareness among all stakeholders, technical expertise, desired financial investment, conservation, training and market linkage are critical to the success of commercial approach of fish production in Assam.
Fisheries in Assam in comparison to national scenario India has made remarkable progress in the development of its fishery sector in the past 60 years. In 1950-51, India?s fish production was 7.5 lakh tonne (5.34 lakh tonne marine and 2.16 lakh tonne inland). In 2006-07 the Indian fish production zoomed up to a level of around 6.61 million tonne (considering 3.21 million tonne of marine and 3.4 million tonne of inland fishes) which help the country to occupy the coveted 3rd position in overall fish production in the world. This works out to an increase of around 800 per cent in over 56 years or an average increase of 14 per cent per annum. India is also acclaimed as the second highest inland fish producing country in the world next to China with over 53 million tonne although the difference in production between the countries is enormous.
As a compared to the rest of the country, aquaculture development in Assam is taking place at a slower pace although there is vast scope for development. Though aquaculture started making inroads only about 30 years ago, it is now contributing more than 40 per cent of the total fish seed production in the State. Assam has attained self-sufficiency in carp seed production and ranked second in seed production next to West Bengal. But availability of standard sized fingerling in right time is still a far cry for the farmers of the state. The production of fish seed achieved during 20062007 is 2026.61 million fry produced by more than 120 eco-hatcheries, 9 mini bundhs and more than 500 hapa breeders. The state produces about 1.91 lakh MT fish from all types of water resources against the nutritional demand of 2.90 lakh tonne for the year 2006-2007.
Fish marketing in Assam Marketing plays a very important role in the economic development as it stimulates production, avoid unnecessary fluctuations in output and prices and reduces cost of production.
In absence of an organized marketing system in fisheries sector of Assam, marketing of fish has always been a hindrance for the fish farmer/producers as well as traders due to poor infrastructure facilities, lack of market information etc.
In Assam, presently there are 29 major markets for fresh fish and one major market for dry fish at Jagiroad of Morigaon district.
In recent time, fisheries sector has been a thrust area for all round development. The process needs to be taken further with participation of all stakeholders and communities for a well organized commercial approach for fish production & distribution system.
Ornamental Fish in Assam Ornamental fishes usually mean attractive colourful fishes of various characteristics, which are kept as pets in confines space of an aquarium. These living jewels need not always have bright colours; as sometimes their peculiar characteristics such as body colour, morphology, mode of taking food etc. may also add to their attractiveness.
Agencies like Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development )NABARD), Northeastern Development Financial Institutions (NEDFI) are taking interest for promoting the development of culture of ornamental fishes.
1.10 Institutional and regulatory framework for management of fisheries: The water bodies of Assam fall under the purview of private fisheries and Govt fisheries. The Govt has control over reverine as well as the beels. The management of registerd fisheries is distributed amongst Revenue Department, AFDC, Department of Fisheries and Panchayat Department. The ambit of fisheries falls under the peurview of following act and regulations whch rests with different departments: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Assam Land and revenue regulation act Assam Fisheries Rules ( 1953) Assam Private Fisheries Protection Act 1935 Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Rules Assam Panchayat Raj Act 1994
The Assam fishery rules, 1953 is a regulatory measure for fish production and Marketing Recommendation on Marketing and others 1. There is a need to construct auction platform in the rural haats. It has been observed from the study that the fish farmers have no problem in selling their fish catch due to high demand for fish locally as well as in nearby township. But the concern is that the farmers are unable to fetch the right price. Secondly, it is also seen that the margin of farmers on consumer?s price has increased by 4% when they sell it in local markets. There is further scope to enhance the margin if there is a provision for auctioning their produces. This will also help the farmers to feel the sense of assured market for their produces with a fair price offering.
2.
There is a need to promote “Fish Farmers Marketing Support Unit”. One such unit can be promoted by combining 5-10 villages together. Only fish farmers will be the member of this unit and they will work in an informal manner. The primary objective of these units will be to assemble produces collectively and participate in the auction. More the volume they can gather the more buyers they can attract and they can have the bargaining power with themselves. Participation of individual farmer in the auction will only create another middleman in the market chain as they will be short of volumes. Besides this, these unit can
also source raw materials (feed, manure, etc) for farmers collectively which will reduce the cost at individual level and which in turn will increase their margin of profit.
Secondly, it is also observed from the study that only 6.25% farmers surveyed have received credit/ financial assistance from different sources. Access to credit for production purpose seems to be an urgent need for the farmers. Hence, there is a possibility that the “Fish Farmers Marketing Support Unit” can also be promoted to act like a micro finance institution. They can be provided with a fund (as a loan with a subsidy component) which will be exclusively meant for fish farmers to avail credit at a nominal interest rate for renovation and expansion of fish ponds. “Investment Cell” of Government of Assam can play an effective role in this regard.
3.
The current extension mechanism is found not sufficient enough to render services to the fish farmers. Many farmers (around 50%) are not aware of scientific methods of fish cultivation and till now they have not received any training and exposure. Looking at this scenario it is almost impossible for the concerned agencies to render services to all the farmers as they are short of man power. Hence, there is a need to promote „Capacity Champions” at strategic villages. These capacity chapions will be the unemployed educated youth from the villages. They will receive specialized training on fish farming for rendering services to the fish farmers on a paid basis.
4.
There is a need to develop “Fish Carrying Van” to serve in the beel and river fisheries where the fish catch is high. This will help to ensure regular supply in the consuming markets and substituting the imported fish.
5.
The storage facilities available for fish in the municipality markets are very poor. There is absence of hygiene and food safety measures. Therefore, it important to improve the storage facilities in all the municipality markets on an urgent basis.
The same is applicable to town committee and regulated markets also.
6.
There is no uniformity in price of local fish is observed specially in the urban markets. The rate of fish varies from one trader to another. This really creates lot of problem for the buyers. Hence, it is very important to have a price control mechanism in place. The concerned market authority can play an effective role in this regard.
7.
There is a need to put effort and resources on research and development for developing low cost drier for drying fishes of varied size. During the study, it has been observed that there is tremendous demand for local dry fish, but as the fishes are not processed properly the consumers in general are reluctant to have these.
8.
Being more than 90% households in Assam is non vegetarian; there is tremendous scope to promote fish pickle in the organized market. Due to non availability of licensing authority, these products are not taken up by existing food processing industries.
The Tin fish that are marketed exclusively by food processing industries from south Indian states can be replaced easily by our local products provided the licensing service is available locally
THE MARKET STUDY OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS IN ASSAM
The Market Study of Livestock in Assam has been taken up with the objective of building body of knowledge on, marketing and the opportunities for the producers of Assam. To fulfill the
objectives field survey of all the districts of Assam was carried along with focus group discussions. The report has collected primary information on marketing related aspects by visiting markets, fairs, butcher shops, retail counter, poultry units etc.
The basic objective of the survey is to ascertain the efficiency of the present livestock marketing system in Assam and the role played by the different stakeholders in the marketing system.
Livestock is an important component of mixed farming system and dependence on livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. The meat consumption in Assam is high ad the demand for livestock commodities has been expanding. The expanding demand offers opportunities for growth for rearing small ruminants, pigs, poultry etc. But, the livestock farmers? potential in the State from expanding demand for livestock commodities could not be harnessed and the dependence on external supply to meet growing local consumption remained intact. The inability of the livestock farmers to access markets is one of the major constraints to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. The report highlights the need to develop proper Infrastructure, provide training and encourage commercialization and small scale agribusiness venture to increase the potential to enhance the prospects of marketing. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Livestock is an important supporting activity in the rural area. It provides livelihood, food, insurance, as well as important farm inputs such as manure and draught power. Livestock provide high quality nutrients in meat, milk and eggs in areas where malnutrition is common. 2. Livestock is an important component of mixed farming system and dependence on
livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. Further, because of social and religious acceptance, the meat consumption is relatively higher in Assam, and the demand for livestock commodities has been expanding. The expanding demand for livestock commodities offers greater opportunities for growth of rearing of small ruminants, pigs and poultry apart from dairy development. But, the livestock farmers? potential in the State from
expanding demand for livestock commodities could not be harnessed and the dependence on external supply to meet growing local consumption remained intact 3. The inability of the livestock farmers to access markets is one of the major constraints to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. Lack of access to better markets reduces incentives to participate in markets and restricts the development of market-oriented production systems 4. In this backdrop, this study under AACP has been undertaken to study markets ad marking of Livestock products. The ultimate objective of the present market study aims at stimulating market driven intensification and diversification of agricultural production towards livestock sector to pave way to seek better quality of life for farmers & consumers of the state. 5. Since secondary information may not adequately represent the actual scenario at grass root level, primary survey was planned to extract information on different dimensions of livestock marketing in Assam. The approach taken during the field was to consult with key stakeholders drawn primarily from the public sector but also involving the private sector apart from soliciting detailed information from the respondents. It was agreed that two complementary methods would be applied to implement the study: a comprehensive review of secondary information relevant to Assam and the collection of primary data through structured interviews in selected districts at district, market, village and household levels. The interviews drew on checklists prepared for market agents and producer households and for district- and village-level key informants. 6. Assam being the largest state, which shares its border with the other six states, facilitates the movement of livestock particularly beef cattle and pigs across border. This in part, fulfills the gap between the demand and supply of meat in the state like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur. The structure of livestock production is changing. Change is quite visible in case of bovine and poultry. While, the bovine and ovine population has declined in Assam, poultry population increased significantly. 7. Food basket in Assam is undergoing a significant shift, and its tilt towards livestock commodities are becoming more pronounced over time. The share of meat and fish in
food expenditure in Assam was much higher than that at national level. . By and large each household in Assam seems to consume meat and fish, while at national level 58 percent households are non-vegetarian. In case of meat and fish the marketing opportunities for livestock producers arise from the increase in the per capita consumption of these items along with increase in population and changes in the structure of population.
8.
The increase in consuming population with an increase in per capita consumption of livestock commodities would be an indicator of prospective market size for the livestock commodities.
9.
There exists an opportunity in Assam to increase the milk consuming households by generic campaign aimed at creating awareness about the benefits of milk consumption. If the remaining households may be converted into milk and milk products consuming households, there would be a surge in the demand for milk and milk products. This will offer opportunities for local producers to increase milk production, which in turn would also generate substantive employment opportunities.
10.
The study also finds that the increase in consumption of meat was always followed by decline in the fish consumption, though the magnitude of change was not always same. This implies that the policy for development of meat sector can not be seen in isolation but it has to take into cognizance of the dynamism of the fisheries sector. As the development in one sub-sector is bound to affect the other pertinent sector.
11.
The gap in the rural and urban per capita consumption of meat was not as high as in the case of milk and milk products. This indicates that non-economic factors like socio-cultural factors, dietary pattern and tastes and preferences play an important role in creation of demand for specific livestock products besides the economic factors like income and price of the commodity.
12.
The data trends indicate a tendency of convergence in the rural and urban consumption pattern of some livestock commodities and in some commodities the tendency of divergence is also quite visible. As such, the expenditure elasticity for livestock products is estimated to be higher for rural consumers than for urban consumers
13.
The demand for livestock products is more responsive to income changes and with rise in income especially the poor consumers would be inclined to include more of livestock commodities in their food basket
14.
The demand-supply gap depicted in Table 14 indicates that the state has to meet its consumption of livestock products mainly on imports from other states. It further reiterates that the competitive production of these commodities would be absorbed in the local markets as it seems the local market is substantially unsaturated. Local market has the large potential to absorb the increasing production if properly planned and integrated with consuming centres. The district wise situation also reveals the similar status. Most of the districts are deficit in meeting the consumption requirements of the district locally.
15.
Organized marketing of livestock in Assam is a far away vision. Markets for live animals are thin, ad hoc in nature and generally located far way from the production centres, resulting into high marketing and transaction costs. Governance of organized livestock markets is not conducive to efficient functioning of markets. Often, livestock market lacks even basic facilities and transparency in transactions .
16.
Bulk of the trade in live animals except poultry is informal. The trading of live animals often takes place between villagers and itinerary traders in rural areas and itinerary traders often behave opportunistically and tend to exploit livestock farmers. The poultry marketing system has undergone significant transformation and moved towards an organized marketing system from an informal system in the past. This movement in the poultry marketing system in Assam is also visible and becoming more apparent with the entry of large players in the State.
17.
Marketing of livestock products is also beset with several problems. Majority of producers lack access to organized markets. For instance, in Assam formal pasteurized milk and dairy product channels, both cooperative and private, may account for only 3% of total locally produced marketed milk, and probably less.1 The traditional market, either for fresh liquid milk or importantly, for traditional products such as sweets, thus accounts for at least 97% of the market opportunities for farmers. For smallholder producers in areas with poor
market access, there are likely to be no alternative market options besides the traditional market. It is thus apparent that developments in the traditional market and its linkage with the organized formal market will be very important. 18. The findings of the study can lead to several issues which may have policy implications for future development of livestock marketing in Assam.The study recommends: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Empowering livestock producers Lowering marketing costs Facilitating development of market infrastructure Facilitating access to credit Encouraging private participation Adherence to Food safety and hygiene
The Study also highlights the success stories of interventions by State Government, NGO and individuals who are building capacities of farmers, women and youth in the area of marketing of
egg, pigs, broiler. The increase in consumption of meat and meat products is an indicator that there is huge demand and the local supplies need to be strengthened by encouraging more and more people to take up this activity.
THE MARKET STUDY OF DIARY PRODUCTS IN ASSAM
Dairy sector in Assam is an important source of rural employment and income in the state. The activity is complementary to agriculture and helps in enriching the diet of the rural population by supplementing protein. However dairying in Assam is largely a subsistence activity; farmers in general keep dairy animals in proportion to the availability of free crop and family labour.
In last few years milk production in Assam has increased from 812 million litres in 2004-05 to 824 million litres in 2007-08. Out of total estimated production of 824 million tonnes about 329 million litres was surplus.
The per capita availability of milk is 70gm/day in comparison to the all India figure of 246gm/day. The huge gap in per capita availability and nutritional requirement as well as population bas demand projection, milk production in Assam leaves a huge with actual demand.
The Dairy development in Assam is making endeavor to improve the overall performance by forming Dairy co-operative societies, creating infrastructure to enhance milk procurement, facilitate private participation and investment in dairy sector.
The present market study aims at stimulating market driven intensification and diversification of Dairy sector to pave way to seek better quality of life for farmers & consumers of the state. The study focuses exclusively on milk products.
The findings of the study are based on primary survey of milk producers, survey of Dairy plants, milk collection centres, chilling centre, milk product distributors, commission agents, sweet manufacturers and consumer survey. The information has also been collated with secondary information collected from Department of Agriculture, Directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Directorate of Dairy Development, Assam Veterinary College and other associated organizations.
The dairy production system in Assam can be broadly categorized into traditional and stallfed system. The large majority of cattle population (about 83%) in Assam is of Indigenous variety of which production potential is very less ranges from 0.5-2 lit per day. Only about 7% cattle belong to cross bred with a production capacity of 5-20 lit per day. Buffalo population in Assam relative to total bovine population is very small only about 9% (Table 1) and that too mainly meant for drought purpose. Milk production potential of the buffalo population is only about 1.5 –3 lit per day.
Seasonal variations in production occur mainly due to a) local climatic conditions, b) availability of fodder, c) occurrence of floods and c) terrain (plains or hills). The field study
suggests that production of milk is higher during the months from October to March as a result of easy availability of dry fodder, grazing land and crop by products like rice polish, rice bran and broken rice during this period.
In respect of seasonality of demand, primary survey reveals that demand is very high from January to April followed by May to August. It is learnt that during January-April there is number of festivals including marriage ceremony owing to which demand of milk is high. While during MayAugust demand of milk is relatively less in absence of any religious or social festival. Although demand for milk products like Dahi, cream etc. increases due to hot climatic condition.
The study indicates that the cost of production of per lit of milk in surveyed districts of Assam is about Rs.7.50/ in respect of cross bred cattle and about Rs.2.17 per lit (reference year 2007- 08)in respect of indigenous cattle.
The total milk production per household ranges from 1 lit to 40 liter out of which percentage of marketable surplus of milk ranges from 50-90% depending on volume of production. Smaller the volume of production, lesser is the percentage of marketable surplus.
In rural areas, neighbours are the major buyers of small quantity of milk produced in rural households. Producers having large surplus milk try to sell it to tea stalls/hotel available in the locality. In many occasions they find problem to dispose their produced milk due to unorganized marketing system. Some of the producers prepare milk product especially Curd (Dahi) and sell it in the daily or weekly market. While, in the areas where there are a large section of producers having stall feeding units and have sizable marketable surplus, milk vendors play the key role in
milk procurement and marketing. But such producers in peri urban areas prefer to sell milk directly in nearby areas as they can realize more profit per lit of milk through direct selling to the consumers or sweet manufacturers/tea stalls
The key market agents that involved in milk marketing are milk vendors, wholesalers, retailers, milk collection centers, sweet manufacturing unit, dairy plants and chilling plants. The traditional market agents/milk vendors are the dominant players in the marketing of milk and milk products in Assam with a minor presence of organized sector.
The study found that the price of milk paid by the wholesaler was higher (Rs. 15.00/litre in 2007-08) than that of small (Rs.13.50/litre) and medium traders (Rs.14.50/ litre). The price paid by the co-operatives is usually similar to the price paid by small milk traders. The margins in raw milk trading depend on several factors like distance, level of infrastructure, urbanization, availability of milk with respect to demand, purchasing power, tastes and preferences etc.
Record keeping in proper format is not a common practice amongst the market agents except keeping the accounts of debit and credit.
Of the total milk produced in peri-urban dairy system, almost 80–85% is routed through Collector cum distributor, locally known as Paikari. There are Sub–Paikaris also who supply milk house to house by their bicycle. Processors who makes sweets in „factories? and supply to the tea stalls and bulk supply to consumers directly on order basis for ceremonies.
Among all the market agents, collector?s role is the most noteworthy. A collector?s role goes beyond the business of dairy and encompasses a host of other socio-economic aspects of the people living in the remotest villages. A collector acts as the financer to many of the smallholder producers and provides cash in advance and sometimes provides feed/ fodder and medicines or veterinary services to the producers.
The primary survey suggests that the major supplier of milk are wholesalers (33%) and retailers (13%) and commission agents (12%). Share of dairy plants, sweet manufacturing unit and milk cooperatives are much lesser than the former
Milk processing offers potential for value addition and income generation for the unorganized milk processors. These value added products are generally sold in unbranded form in the market by traditional milk market agents, and the entire business and volume of these sales depends on the processors credibility and reputation in the market.
The costs and returns suggests that milk processing offers good opportunities for enhancement of income and employment generation. However, milk processing seems to be scale efficient, as return per unit increases with the scale of the business. This may be partly attributed to the non-divisibility of some of the fixed resources and efficient utilization of time and labour in bigger units.
The NSSO?s household survey suggests that the per capita monthly consumption of dairy products especially butter, ghee, baby food and milk powder is increasing fast indicating the opportunities for these products in the future market. Our primary survey also suggest that demand for channa (base of sweet meat), tetra pack milk, butter, milk powder and paneer is increasing in the state over the years. It was found that channa, paneer, sweets and cream are usually processed in bulk in the state owing to its high demand. The primary survey suggests that the major cost involved in starting of a sweet manufacturing unit is construction of building (46%) followed by cost of utensils (21%) and furniture and fixture (24%).
It is worth mentioning here that over the last 10 years, the demand for sweets have increased in much higher pace than any other milk products. Earlier, sweets were available only in tea stalls but now plenty of sweet stalls have come up to sell only different verities of sweets. These stalls are running good business in urban centers and become the major consumer of fresh
milk. The study suggests that the trend will further continue in the years to come and it may serve as a growth engine for the milk sub-sector.
Presence of sweetmeat manufacturing association in the surveyed areas of the state including Guwahati city is very feeble, and there are only few associations sporadically found in Guwahati, Jorhat or Barpeta town. In Guwahati, there is a sweetmeat manufacturing association called “Brihattar Guwahati Mithai Byabasaai Samiti” with a member of about 410 sweetshops? owner.
The scope of milk production in wide considering fast growing urban population demand, continuous awareness towards improved human nutrition and acquisition of modern technology in dairy production system. This justifies deliberate policies and an increase in resources allocation to promote milk production and marketing. Based on the qualitative study and in terms of four variables viz, a) existing proportion of cross breed cows b) availability of veterinary service c) relatively easy availability of feed and fodder d) the extent of demand for raw fresh milk ( in terms of the relative price the people of the area are willing to pay) the following areas (shaded areas in the map) have emerged as the most potential for piloting milk marketing initiatives.
doc_760492821.pdf
Competitiveness pertains to the ability and performance of a firm, sub-sector or country to sell and supply goods and services in a given market, in relation to the ability and performance of other firms, sub-sectors or countries in the same market.
Assam Agriculture Competitiveness Project For Market Study
Market Study
The National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) is a premier National level Institute set up by the Government of India in August 1988 to offer specialized Training, Research and Consultancy, and education in Agricultural Marketing. NIAM is an autonomous body under Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. NIAM is conducting and comprehensive Sector Market of Assam study of
Agriculture funded by
Horticulture Bank
Assam
Rural
Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS). The Project is World through Agricultural Competitiveness Project (AACP).
National Institute of Agricultural Marketing Kota Road, Bambala, Jaipur- 302033 Ph No 0141 2795104 Fax: 0141 2771938 www.ccsniam.gov.in
.
THE PRESENT MARKET STUDY AIMS AT STIMULATING MARKET DRIVEN INTENSIFICATION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION TO PAVE WAY TO SEEK BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE FOR FARMERS & CONSUMERS OF THE STATE.
OBJECTIVES: The project aims to build a to build up a body of knowledge on the market, its system, present conditions and opportunities for farmers, trade, agribusiness ventures and other market participants.
The project focused identify major production centres and their comparative advantages. Estimate the size of the market for key agricultural and horticultural produce with marketable / marketed surplus, and possible potential to achieve import substitution & develop exports. Assess relative importance of different marketing channels. Collect information on important agri-business, traders and relevant trader associations and study new market opportunities and investments in liberalized economy. Understanding key criteria affecting consumers purchasing habits of food products. Projection of expected growth in sales of major products and estimation of additional farm income accrued there upon by the year 2015. Preparation of market intelligence. Producing commercial information on products for use in marketing extension Identification of market opportunities for Assam farmers and producers.
FOCUS: ? ? ? ? Agriculture and Horticulture Dairy Products Fisheries Livestock Products
APROACH: ? Participatory ? Producer oriented ? Futuristic
The Project will accomplished with constant discussion with ARIAS officers , District Marketing Oficers, Block Level teams. Farmers , Panchayat and Communities will be the focus point of the study . The study would be inclusive of the producers and communities. ? Location of the study
The study encompass 23 districts of Assam. Producers survey envisages interviewing 250 farmers across 6 agro-climatic zones KNOWLEDGE LINKAGES: ? Directorate of Agriculture, Horticulture Animal Husbandry, Dairy Assam ? State Marketing Board, Assam ? SFAC ? NEDFI ? Jorhat University of Agriculture ? College of Horticulture, Guwahati . of the state. Market intermediaries and other functionaries will be conveniently selected out of total market sample. In all 60 wholesale markets and 180 rural hats and 80 agribusiness ventures spread across the states will be surveyed. KEY PERSONALS; The project will be implemented under the leadership of Sh Director General, NIAM. The Principal Coordinator of the Project was Dr Hema Yadav, Deputy Director, and professional specialists in Agriculture and Horticulture,
?
Livestock, Fisheries, Dairy Products. We acknowledge the Contributions of ? ? ? ? ? Shri G H Dhankar, Specialist – Agri and Horti Dr Anjani Kumar, Specialist Livestock Dr Rameswar Deka, Specialist Dairy Products Sh Ganesh Baruah, Specialist- Fisheries Shri Partho Patwari Specialist- Dairy Products
Marketing
in
changed
circumstances involves ? Finding out what
your customers want ? Supplying it to them at a profit. ?
THE MARKET STUDY OF FISHERIES IN ASSAM
The Market Study of fisheries in Assam has been taken up with the objective of building body of knowledge on status of fishery, marketing and the opportunities for the producers of Assam. Accordingly market survey of fisheries in all the districts of Assam was carried out. The present report delves on the preset water resources, its utilization status in terms of fish production and possible scope for incremental fish production and distribution has been taken into consideration for suggestive improvement. The report has collected primary information on marketing related aspects. The report highlights the potential of fisheries resources for production of marketable fishes, through various fish cultural approaches, availability of input like fish seeds, fish feed etc. Management of natural fisheries like river fisheries & beel fisheries has also been discussed separately. Two potential fisheries avenues namely dry fish trade and ornamental fish trade has been dealt in separate chapters.
The basic objective of the survey is to ascertain the efficiency of the present fish marketing system in Assam and the role played by the different stakeholders in the marketing system. The
marketing of fish is normally faced with unique problem largely emanating from the nature of fish production. These include greater uncertainty with fish production, highly perishable nature of fish, assembling of fish from scattered landing centers, too many species and as many demand patterns, frequent fluctuation in prices, transportation requirement. The present fish marketing scenarios in Assam is vested with the trader groups and no major intervention of Government has been experienced. Based on Primary survey and other means of data collection on fish
marketing system, a vivid picture of the existing system with improvement suggestions has been focused. The water bodies of Assam fall under the purview of private fisheries and Govt fisheries. The Govt has control over reverine as well as the beels. The management of registered fisheries is distributed amongst Revenue Department, AFDC, Department of Fisheries and Panchayat Department.
The report also presents the case studies on dry fish market of Jagiroad, Morigaon District, Fish seed production programme of All Barpeta District fish seeds production Society, Dabaliapara
Barpeta District and Gangakhauri Beel Fishery of Hailakandi District to bring for the the efforts of the people and Soceities in improving fish marketing.
Fishery sector of Assam at a glance Assam has abundant productive and diversified water resources to support surplus fish production to feel the growing fish eating population of the state. However the present level of production of fish is far below the carrying capacity of the water bodies, which requires a concerted effort from all fronts to achieve maximum production level.
Assam is the most resourceful State in surface area in N.E. Region with coverage of 3.90 lakh hectares of water area in the form of wetlands, beels, ponds, tanks, etc including two major river systems – the Brahmaputra and the Barak and their tributaries.
The present level of Annual fish production is 1.81-lakh MT. against estimated demand of 3 lakh MT, calculated on the basis of minimum nutritional requirement of 11 kg. Per capita. The gap is partially met by importing fish from other States. The present per capita consumption is about 7.3 kg. The under utilization of resources as stated above as well as the deficit in the availability of the fish and its high prices indicate the high potential for development of this sector in the state.
Fish farming as a profitable commercial activity is gradually gaining popularity. In some pockets in the district of Kamrup, Nagaon, Morigaon, Cachar, Karimganj, Darrang and Barpeta farmers have taken up seed and fish farming on commercial basis. However, there are difficulties in the inputs availability of quality seed, feed, funds and technology transfer.
Growth rate in fisheries sector is almost at the same level with annual increase of about 2.65% only. This is because the gradual decline of fish catches from riverine captures fishery has not been surpassed by the aquaculture growth in pond and maintain its sustainability in capture fisheries and augment production in culture fisheries to its optimum level. In addition, related infrastructure and proper marketing need to be developed. (Source: SFAC)
The Assam vision 2025 (India) aims for surplus production of fish & fisheries product by 2025 beyond the local market demand of the state keeping the target of 22 kg. per capita consumption against the present consumption of 7.5 kg. per person. As per envisaged strategic approach a production of 7.72 lakh M.T. has been planned by 2025. To achieve the envisaged production target, enhanced level of awareness among all stakeholders, technical expertise, desired financial investment, conservation, training and market linkage are critical to the success of commercial approach of fish production in Assam.
Fisheries in Assam in comparison to national scenario India has made remarkable progress in the development of its fishery sector in the past 60 years. In 1950-51, India?s fish production was 7.5 lakh tonne (5.34 lakh tonne marine and 2.16 lakh tonne inland). In 2006-07 the Indian fish production zoomed up to a level of around 6.61 million tonne (considering 3.21 million tonne of marine and 3.4 million tonne of inland fishes) which help the country to occupy the coveted 3rd position in overall fish production in the world. This works out to an increase of around 800 per cent in over 56 years or an average increase of 14 per cent per annum. India is also acclaimed as the second highest inland fish producing country in the world next to China with over 53 million tonne although the difference in production between the countries is enormous.
As a compared to the rest of the country, aquaculture development in Assam is taking place at a slower pace although there is vast scope for development. Though aquaculture started making inroads only about 30 years ago, it is now contributing more than 40 per cent of the total fish seed production in the State. Assam has attained self-sufficiency in carp seed production and ranked second in seed production next to West Bengal. But availability of standard sized fingerling in right time is still a far cry for the farmers of the state. The production of fish seed achieved during 20062007 is 2026.61 million fry produced by more than 120 eco-hatcheries, 9 mini bundhs and more than 500 hapa breeders. The state produces about 1.91 lakh MT fish from all types of water resources against the nutritional demand of 2.90 lakh tonne for the year 2006-2007.
Fish marketing in Assam Marketing plays a very important role in the economic development as it stimulates production, avoid unnecessary fluctuations in output and prices and reduces cost of production.
In absence of an organized marketing system in fisheries sector of Assam, marketing of fish has always been a hindrance for the fish farmer/producers as well as traders due to poor infrastructure facilities, lack of market information etc.
In Assam, presently there are 29 major markets for fresh fish and one major market for dry fish at Jagiroad of Morigaon district.
In recent time, fisheries sector has been a thrust area for all round development. The process needs to be taken further with participation of all stakeholders and communities for a well organized commercial approach for fish production & distribution system.
Ornamental Fish in Assam Ornamental fishes usually mean attractive colourful fishes of various characteristics, which are kept as pets in confines space of an aquarium. These living jewels need not always have bright colours; as sometimes their peculiar characteristics such as body colour, morphology, mode of taking food etc. may also add to their attractiveness.
Agencies like Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development )NABARD), Northeastern Development Financial Institutions (NEDFI) are taking interest for promoting the development of culture of ornamental fishes.
1.10 Institutional and regulatory framework for management of fisheries: The water bodies of Assam fall under the purview of private fisheries and Govt fisheries. The Govt has control over reverine as well as the beels. The management of registerd fisheries is distributed amongst Revenue Department, AFDC, Department of Fisheries and Panchayat Department. The ambit of fisheries falls under the peurview of following act and regulations whch rests with different departments: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Assam Land and revenue regulation act Assam Fisheries Rules ( 1953) Assam Private Fisheries Protection Act 1935 Assam Fisheries Development Corporation Rules Assam Panchayat Raj Act 1994
The Assam fishery rules, 1953 is a regulatory measure for fish production and Marketing Recommendation on Marketing and others 1. There is a need to construct auction platform in the rural haats. It has been observed from the study that the fish farmers have no problem in selling their fish catch due to high demand for fish locally as well as in nearby township. But the concern is that the farmers are unable to fetch the right price. Secondly, it is also seen that the margin of farmers on consumer?s price has increased by 4% when they sell it in local markets. There is further scope to enhance the margin if there is a provision for auctioning their produces. This will also help the farmers to feel the sense of assured market for their produces with a fair price offering.
2.
There is a need to promote “Fish Farmers Marketing Support Unit”. One such unit can be promoted by combining 5-10 villages together. Only fish farmers will be the member of this unit and they will work in an informal manner. The primary objective of these units will be to assemble produces collectively and participate in the auction. More the volume they can gather the more buyers they can attract and they can have the bargaining power with themselves. Participation of individual farmer in the auction will only create another middleman in the market chain as they will be short of volumes. Besides this, these unit can
also source raw materials (feed, manure, etc) for farmers collectively which will reduce the cost at individual level and which in turn will increase their margin of profit.
Secondly, it is also observed from the study that only 6.25% farmers surveyed have received credit/ financial assistance from different sources. Access to credit for production purpose seems to be an urgent need for the farmers. Hence, there is a possibility that the “Fish Farmers Marketing Support Unit” can also be promoted to act like a micro finance institution. They can be provided with a fund (as a loan with a subsidy component) which will be exclusively meant for fish farmers to avail credit at a nominal interest rate for renovation and expansion of fish ponds. “Investment Cell” of Government of Assam can play an effective role in this regard.
3.
The current extension mechanism is found not sufficient enough to render services to the fish farmers. Many farmers (around 50%) are not aware of scientific methods of fish cultivation and till now they have not received any training and exposure. Looking at this scenario it is almost impossible for the concerned agencies to render services to all the farmers as they are short of man power. Hence, there is a need to promote „Capacity Champions” at strategic villages. These capacity chapions will be the unemployed educated youth from the villages. They will receive specialized training on fish farming for rendering services to the fish farmers on a paid basis.
4.
There is a need to develop “Fish Carrying Van” to serve in the beel and river fisheries where the fish catch is high. This will help to ensure regular supply in the consuming markets and substituting the imported fish.
5.
The storage facilities available for fish in the municipality markets are very poor. There is absence of hygiene and food safety measures. Therefore, it important to improve the storage facilities in all the municipality markets on an urgent basis.
The same is applicable to town committee and regulated markets also.
6.
There is no uniformity in price of local fish is observed specially in the urban markets. The rate of fish varies from one trader to another. This really creates lot of problem for the buyers. Hence, it is very important to have a price control mechanism in place. The concerned market authority can play an effective role in this regard.
7.
There is a need to put effort and resources on research and development for developing low cost drier for drying fishes of varied size. During the study, it has been observed that there is tremendous demand for local dry fish, but as the fishes are not processed properly the consumers in general are reluctant to have these.
8.
Being more than 90% households in Assam is non vegetarian; there is tremendous scope to promote fish pickle in the organized market. Due to non availability of licensing authority, these products are not taken up by existing food processing industries.
The Tin fish that are marketed exclusively by food processing industries from south Indian states can be replaced easily by our local products provided the licensing service is available locally
THE MARKET STUDY OF LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS IN ASSAM
The Market Study of Livestock in Assam has been taken up with the objective of building body of knowledge on, marketing and the opportunities for the producers of Assam. To fulfill the
objectives field survey of all the districts of Assam was carried along with focus group discussions. The report has collected primary information on marketing related aspects by visiting markets, fairs, butcher shops, retail counter, poultry units etc.
The basic objective of the survey is to ascertain the efficiency of the present livestock marketing system in Assam and the role played by the different stakeholders in the marketing system.
Livestock is an important component of mixed farming system and dependence on livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. The meat consumption in Assam is high ad the demand for livestock commodities has been expanding. The expanding demand offers opportunities for growth for rearing small ruminants, pigs, poultry etc. But, the livestock farmers? potential in the State from expanding demand for livestock commodities could not be harnessed and the dependence on external supply to meet growing local consumption remained intact. The inability of the livestock farmers to access markets is one of the major constraints to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. The report highlights the need to develop proper Infrastructure, provide training and encourage commercialization and small scale agribusiness venture to increase the potential to enhance the prospects of marketing. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Livestock is an important supporting activity in the rural area. It provides livelihood, food, insurance, as well as important farm inputs such as manure and draught power. Livestock provide high quality nutrients in meat, milk and eggs in areas where malnutrition is common. 2. Livestock is an important component of mixed farming system and dependence on
livestock as an alternative source of income is significant. Further, because of social and religious acceptance, the meat consumption is relatively higher in Assam, and the demand for livestock commodities has been expanding. The expanding demand for livestock commodities offers greater opportunities for growth of rearing of small ruminants, pigs and poultry apart from dairy development. But, the livestock farmers? potential in the State from
expanding demand for livestock commodities could not be harnessed and the dependence on external supply to meet growing local consumption remained intact 3. The inability of the livestock farmers to access markets is one of the major constraints to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. Lack of access to better markets reduces incentives to participate in markets and restricts the development of market-oriented production systems 4. In this backdrop, this study under AACP has been undertaken to study markets ad marking of Livestock products. The ultimate objective of the present market study aims at stimulating market driven intensification and diversification of agricultural production towards livestock sector to pave way to seek better quality of life for farmers & consumers of the state. 5. Since secondary information may not adequately represent the actual scenario at grass root level, primary survey was planned to extract information on different dimensions of livestock marketing in Assam. The approach taken during the field was to consult with key stakeholders drawn primarily from the public sector but also involving the private sector apart from soliciting detailed information from the respondents. It was agreed that two complementary methods would be applied to implement the study: a comprehensive review of secondary information relevant to Assam and the collection of primary data through structured interviews in selected districts at district, market, village and household levels. The interviews drew on checklists prepared for market agents and producer households and for district- and village-level key informants. 6. Assam being the largest state, which shares its border with the other six states, facilitates the movement of livestock particularly beef cattle and pigs across border. This in part, fulfills the gap between the demand and supply of meat in the state like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Manipur. The structure of livestock production is changing. Change is quite visible in case of bovine and poultry. While, the bovine and ovine population has declined in Assam, poultry population increased significantly. 7. Food basket in Assam is undergoing a significant shift, and its tilt towards livestock commodities are becoming more pronounced over time. The share of meat and fish in
food expenditure in Assam was much higher than that at national level. . By and large each household in Assam seems to consume meat and fish, while at national level 58 percent households are non-vegetarian. In case of meat and fish the marketing opportunities for livestock producers arise from the increase in the per capita consumption of these items along with increase in population and changes in the structure of population.
8.
The increase in consuming population with an increase in per capita consumption of livestock commodities would be an indicator of prospective market size for the livestock commodities.
9.
There exists an opportunity in Assam to increase the milk consuming households by generic campaign aimed at creating awareness about the benefits of milk consumption. If the remaining households may be converted into milk and milk products consuming households, there would be a surge in the demand for milk and milk products. This will offer opportunities for local producers to increase milk production, which in turn would also generate substantive employment opportunities.
10.
The study also finds that the increase in consumption of meat was always followed by decline in the fish consumption, though the magnitude of change was not always same. This implies that the policy for development of meat sector can not be seen in isolation but it has to take into cognizance of the dynamism of the fisheries sector. As the development in one sub-sector is bound to affect the other pertinent sector.
11.
The gap in the rural and urban per capita consumption of meat was not as high as in the case of milk and milk products. This indicates that non-economic factors like socio-cultural factors, dietary pattern and tastes and preferences play an important role in creation of demand for specific livestock products besides the economic factors like income and price of the commodity.
12.
The data trends indicate a tendency of convergence in the rural and urban consumption pattern of some livestock commodities and in some commodities the tendency of divergence is also quite visible. As such, the expenditure elasticity for livestock products is estimated to be higher for rural consumers than for urban consumers
13.
The demand for livestock products is more responsive to income changes and with rise in income especially the poor consumers would be inclined to include more of livestock commodities in their food basket
14.
The demand-supply gap depicted in Table 14 indicates that the state has to meet its consumption of livestock products mainly on imports from other states. It further reiterates that the competitive production of these commodities would be absorbed in the local markets as it seems the local market is substantially unsaturated. Local market has the large potential to absorb the increasing production if properly planned and integrated with consuming centres. The district wise situation also reveals the similar status. Most of the districts are deficit in meeting the consumption requirements of the district locally.
15.
Organized marketing of livestock in Assam is a far away vision. Markets for live animals are thin, ad hoc in nature and generally located far way from the production centres, resulting into high marketing and transaction costs. Governance of organized livestock markets is not conducive to efficient functioning of markets. Often, livestock market lacks even basic facilities and transparency in transactions .
16.
Bulk of the trade in live animals except poultry is informal. The trading of live animals often takes place between villagers and itinerary traders in rural areas and itinerary traders often behave opportunistically and tend to exploit livestock farmers. The poultry marketing system has undergone significant transformation and moved towards an organized marketing system from an informal system in the past. This movement in the poultry marketing system in Assam is also visible and becoming more apparent with the entry of large players in the State.
17.
Marketing of livestock products is also beset with several problems. Majority of producers lack access to organized markets. For instance, in Assam formal pasteurized milk and dairy product channels, both cooperative and private, may account for only 3% of total locally produced marketed milk, and probably less.1 The traditional market, either for fresh liquid milk or importantly, for traditional products such as sweets, thus accounts for at least 97% of the market opportunities for farmers. For smallholder producers in areas with poor
market access, there are likely to be no alternative market options besides the traditional market. It is thus apparent that developments in the traditional market and its linkage with the organized formal market will be very important. 18. The findings of the study can lead to several issues which may have policy implications for future development of livestock marketing in Assam.The study recommends: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Empowering livestock producers Lowering marketing costs Facilitating development of market infrastructure Facilitating access to credit Encouraging private participation Adherence to Food safety and hygiene
The Study also highlights the success stories of interventions by State Government, NGO and individuals who are building capacities of farmers, women and youth in the area of marketing of
egg, pigs, broiler. The increase in consumption of meat and meat products is an indicator that there is huge demand and the local supplies need to be strengthened by encouraging more and more people to take up this activity.
THE MARKET STUDY OF DIARY PRODUCTS IN ASSAM
Dairy sector in Assam is an important source of rural employment and income in the state. The activity is complementary to agriculture and helps in enriching the diet of the rural population by supplementing protein. However dairying in Assam is largely a subsistence activity; farmers in general keep dairy animals in proportion to the availability of free crop and family labour.
In last few years milk production in Assam has increased from 812 million litres in 2004-05 to 824 million litres in 2007-08. Out of total estimated production of 824 million tonnes about 329 million litres was surplus.
The per capita availability of milk is 70gm/day in comparison to the all India figure of 246gm/day. The huge gap in per capita availability and nutritional requirement as well as population bas demand projection, milk production in Assam leaves a huge with actual demand.
The Dairy development in Assam is making endeavor to improve the overall performance by forming Dairy co-operative societies, creating infrastructure to enhance milk procurement, facilitate private participation and investment in dairy sector.
The present market study aims at stimulating market driven intensification and diversification of Dairy sector to pave way to seek better quality of life for farmers & consumers of the state. The study focuses exclusively on milk products.
The findings of the study are based on primary survey of milk producers, survey of Dairy plants, milk collection centres, chilling centre, milk product distributors, commission agents, sweet manufacturers and consumer survey. The information has also been collated with secondary information collected from Department of Agriculture, Directorate of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary, Directorate of Dairy Development, Assam Veterinary College and other associated organizations.
The dairy production system in Assam can be broadly categorized into traditional and stallfed system. The large majority of cattle population (about 83%) in Assam is of Indigenous variety of which production potential is very less ranges from 0.5-2 lit per day. Only about 7% cattle belong to cross bred with a production capacity of 5-20 lit per day. Buffalo population in Assam relative to total bovine population is very small only about 9% (Table 1) and that too mainly meant for drought purpose. Milk production potential of the buffalo population is only about 1.5 –3 lit per day.
Seasonal variations in production occur mainly due to a) local climatic conditions, b) availability of fodder, c) occurrence of floods and c) terrain (plains or hills). The field study
suggests that production of milk is higher during the months from October to March as a result of easy availability of dry fodder, grazing land and crop by products like rice polish, rice bran and broken rice during this period.
In respect of seasonality of demand, primary survey reveals that demand is very high from January to April followed by May to August. It is learnt that during January-April there is number of festivals including marriage ceremony owing to which demand of milk is high. While during MayAugust demand of milk is relatively less in absence of any religious or social festival. Although demand for milk products like Dahi, cream etc. increases due to hot climatic condition.
The study indicates that the cost of production of per lit of milk in surveyed districts of Assam is about Rs.7.50/ in respect of cross bred cattle and about Rs.2.17 per lit (reference year 2007- 08)in respect of indigenous cattle.
The total milk production per household ranges from 1 lit to 40 liter out of which percentage of marketable surplus of milk ranges from 50-90% depending on volume of production. Smaller the volume of production, lesser is the percentage of marketable surplus.
In rural areas, neighbours are the major buyers of small quantity of milk produced in rural households. Producers having large surplus milk try to sell it to tea stalls/hotel available in the locality. In many occasions they find problem to dispose their produced milk due to unorganized marketing system. Some of the producers prepare milk product especially Curd (Dahi) and sell it in the daily or weekly market. While, in the areas where there are a large section of producers having stall feeding units and have sizable marketable surplus, milk vendors play the key role in
milk procurement and marketing. But such producers in peri urban areas prefer to sell milk directly in nearby areas as they can realize more profit per lit of milk through direct selling to the consumers or sweet manufacturers/tea stalls
The key market agents that involved in milk marketing are milk vendors, wholesalers, retailers, milk collection centers, sweet manufacturing unit, dairy plants and chilling plants. The traditional market agents/milk vendors are the dominant players in the marketing of milk and milk products in Assam with a minor presence of organized sector.
The study found that the price of milk paid by the wholesaler was higher (Rs. 15.00/litre in 2007-08) than that of small (Rs.13.50/litre) and medium traders (Rs.14.50/ litre). The price paid by the co-operatives is usually similar to the price paid by small milk traders. The margins in raw milk trading depend on several factors like distance, level of infrastructure, urbanization, availability of milk with respect to demand, purchasing power, tastes and preferences etc.
Record keeping in proper format is not a common practice amongst the market agents except keeping the accounts of debit and credit.
Of the total milk produced in peri-urban dairy system, almost 80–85% is routed through Collector cum distributor, locally known as Paikari. There are Sub–Paikaris also who supply milk house to house by their bicycle. Processors who makes sweets in „factories? and supply to the tea stalls and bulk supply to consumers directly on order basis for ceremonies.
Among all the market agents, collector?s role is the most noteworthy. A collector?s role goes beyond the business of dairy and encompasses a host of other socio-economic aspects of the people living in the remotest villages. A collector acts as the financer to many of the smallholder producers and provides cash in advance and sometimes provides feed/ fodder and medicines or veterinary services to the producers.
The primary survey suggests that the major supplier of milk are wholesalers (33%) and retailers (13%) and commission agents (12%). Share of dairy plants, sweet manufacturing unit and milk cooperatives are much lesser than the former
Milk processing offers potential for value addition and income generation for the unorganized milk processors. These value added products are generally sold in unbranded form in the market by traditional milk market agents, and the entire business and volume of these sales depends on the processors credibility and reputation in the market.
The costs and returns suggests that milk processing offers good opportunities for enhancement of income and employment generation. However, milk processing seems to be scale efficient, as return per unit increases with the scale of the business. This may be partly attributed to the non-divisibility of some of the fixed resources and efficient utilization of time and labour in bigger units.
The NSSO?s household survey suggests that the per capita monthly consumption of dairy products especially butter, ghee, baby food and milk powder is increasing fast indicating the opportunities for these products in the future market. Our primary survey also suggest that demand for channa (base of sweet meat), tetra pack milk, butter, milk powder and paneer is increasing in the state over the years. It was found that channa, paneer, sweets and cream are usually processed in bulk in the state owing to its high demand. The primary survey suggests that the major cost involved in starting of a sweet manufacturing unit is construction of building (46%) followed by cost of utensils (21%) and furniture and fixture (24%).
It is worth mentioning here that over the last 10 years, the demand for sweets have increased in much higher pace than any other milk products. Earlier, sweets were available only in tea stalls but now plenty of sweet stalls have come up to sell only different verities of sweets. These stalls are running good business in urban centers and become the major consumer of fresh
milk. The study suggests that the trend will further continue in the years to come and it may serve as a growth engine for the milk sub-sector.
Presence of sweetmeat manufacturing association in the surveyed areas of the state including Guwahati city is very feeble, and there are only few associations sporadically found in Guwahati, Jorhat or Barpeta town. In Guwahati, there is a sweetmeat manufacturing association called “Brihattar Guwahati Mithai Byabasaai Samiti” with a member of about 410 sweetshops? owner.
The scope of milk production in wide considering fast growing urban population demand, continuous awareness towards improved human nutrition and acquisition of modern technology in dairy production system. This justifies deliberate policies and an increase in resources allocation to promote milk production and marketing. Based on the qualitative study and in terms of four variables viz, a) existing proportion of cross breed cows b) availability of veterinary service c) relatively easy availability of feed and fodder d) the extent of demand for raw fresh milk ( in terms of the relative price the people of the area are willing to pay) the following areas (shaded areas in the map) have emerged as the most potential for piloting milk marketing initiatives.
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