Smallholder Vegetable Farmers and Marketing Choices: Implications for Inclusiveness of Farmers to Markets

Abstract

This study has evaluated the factors that influence the smallholder farmers selection of marketing channels to sell vegetables. The marketing channels include cooperative, regulated and conventional market. The primary data were collected from a random sampling of 100 vegetable growing smallholder farmers from Karnataka, India. Personal interview was conducted with the help of semi-structured interview in the field survey. Ten variables describing the socio economic, product and market factors were considered for the analysis. Data revealed that farmers were selling their produce in one or more than one marketing channels. The multivariate probit was used to analyze the co-relation in the choice or selection of the marketing channels. Empirical findings reveal that the factors such as extension activities, subsidiary occupation, lower vegetable area, higher quality checks, and nearest distance influence the farmers selection of the cooperative market, while the distance influence the selection of the regulated market and lesser quality checks influence the selection of the conventional market.