Extent of integration of potato markets in West Bengal: A case study of five markets

In the wake of globalization of agriculture, area under potato in India has increased significantly and its product has started playing a very crucial role in its sustainable marketing. The supply of potato one hand and the demand for them on the other, at a particular time and market, will determine the wholesale price. The changes in these determinants over a period of a year will affect the price which will lead to seasonality effect in price series with high magnitude depending on the change in the magnitude of demand and supply. The presence of many intermediaries and concentration of potato trade in a few hands have resulted in exploitation of growers and consumers. It is believed that poor efficiency in the marketing channels and poor marketing infrastructure leading to high and fluctuating consumer prices and only a small portion of the consumer rupee reaching the producer farmers. The semi perishable nature of the product, inadequacy of appropriate storage facility, inadequate and slow transportation leads to reduction in the degree of integration among different potato markets. This paper examines these aspects in some selected regulated wholesale markets for potato in West Bengal. It was showed that major potato markets are well integrated while less important markets are weakly integrated.