Marketing of fruits in Punjab

The present study was conducted to investigate the marketing aspects of fruits in Punjab. The analysis is based on primary data collected from sample fruit growers and various market intermediaries. The study revealed that marketed surplus of kinnow and malta, the major fruits of sample farmers constituted 98.20 per cent and 96.06per cent total production of the respective fruits. As compared to channels in which producers themselves sold their produce in the market, in pre-harvest contract system the observed price spread was the highest and the producer's share in the price paid by consumer for the average quality fruits was found to be the lowest. The producer's share in consumer rupee was the highest when they sold their produce directly to the retailers and this channel was observed to be the highly efficient. Lack of processing plants in adjacent area, lack of cold supply chain, lack of local marketing centre, export bottlenecks, andfluctuations in prices were the major problems faced by fruit growers in marketing offruits in the state. In order to bring the desired diversification of state agriculture, the problems faced by fruit growers need to be addressed on the priority basis through employing suitable technological interventions and policy tools.