Farm-to-Market Supply Chain Analysis of Nutmeg in Pollachi and Anaimalai Hills of Coimbatore District

Abstract

Nutmeg cultivation and trade play an important role in the agrarian economy of Pollachi and Anaimalai, a spice-growing region in Tamil Nadu, India. The present paper investigates the nutmeg supply chain in Pollachi and Anaimalai, focusing on the various stages such as production, procurement, processing, distribution, and marketing. The overall goal of this study is to map the actors involved in nutmeg supply chain analysis, to investigate the current state of nutmeg marketing in Pollachi and Anaimalai, to examine the marketing efficiency of various channels in nutmeg, to analyze the price spread in the nutmeg supply chain and to examine the problems faced by the actors in the nutmeg supply chain using tools such as price spread, percentage analysis, marketing efficiency and Garrette ranking. By surveying 125 Nutmeg farmers, 20 intermediaries and 20 consumers, we noticed that the study area had 4 marketing channels. The study concentrated on both the nut and mace marketing. Among the 4, Channel I was found to be the best for marketing of nuts and mace of nutmeg. Therefore, encouraging and assisting Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) may help them aggregate produce, bargain for better prices and lessen their reliance on middlemen.