An Analysis of Market Structure of Apple Fruit using Gini Co-Efficient and Lorenz Curve: A Case Study of Himachal Pradesh

The present study has made an attempt to analyse the market structure of apple fruit in four selected markets of Himachal Pradesh as our state is the second top most apple producing state in India, so, it becomes relevant to analyse it’s market structure.

The present study has analysed the market structure of apple fruit using Gini co-efficient and Lorenz curve by purposely selecting four apple wholesale markets of Himachal Pradesh i.e. Dhali market of Shimla, Solan wholesale market, Bhuntar wholesale market of Kullu and Takoli wholesale market in Mandi district involved in procurement of apple in Himachal Pradesh and a sample of 40 intermediaries (wholesalers and retailers) from selected markets was taken and analysed using suitable statistical tools.

It was revealed that 20 per cent of the wholesalers in the size of >3000 MT/year were handling 23.52 per cent of apple sales in Dhali market and the Gini concentration ratio of 0.31 was low for apple in this market which revealed that it was a relatively highly competitive market. Also, in Dhali wholesale market, the Lorenz curve was somewhat nearer to line of equality which led us to the conclusion the income inequality was less among wholesalers and income was equally distributed among wholesalers. Government should also improve their policies to improve the market sturcture of apple which can help in reducing income inequalities.