Study of camel meat marketing structure in semnan province, Iran

Camels play an important role in the local economy of Iran. This study aims to investigate existing marketing situation of camel meat in Semnan province in northeast of Iran. For this purpose, marketing channels were identified and marketing costs, margins, price spread, and marketing efficiency were determined. The necessary primary data was collected by direct interview from all 16 breeders and 4 slaughterhouses through a survey and 47 camel meat retailers selected by random sampling method in four districts of Semnan province in 2011. The different marketing channels identified for the marketing of camel meat are channel-I (producer-retailer-consumer), channel-II (producer-middleman-retailer-consumer) and channel-III (producer-consumer). More than 86 per cent of camel meat was marketed through channel-I followed by channel-III (10%) and channel-II (4%). The results showed that most of the producers had more than 15 years of experience in camel breeding. It is found that the marketing of camel meat in study area is dominated by local traders. The producer share in consumer's price was the highest (91.8%) in channel-III and the lowest (66.8%) in channel-II. The marketing cost was less in channel-III and the producers received no share in marketing costs of camel meat in all marketing channels. The marketing cost coefficient was the highest (9.3%) in channel-II. The marketing efficiency ratio was higher in channel-III (11.19), mainly because of higher price realization by the producers.