Farmers’ Brand Preference and Brand Loyalty towards Maize Hybrid Seeds in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India

Abstract

A good quality seed is considered as a primary vital farm input among all agricultural farm inputs. Since it directly helps to a good crop productivity, which further makes farmer to generate income by marketing the surplus to consumers. Farmers are finding it difficult to select a high-quality seed brand for cultivation because numerous seed brands have been introduced to the market by the public and private companies. As maize is one of the most profitable crops, most farmers opt for commercial cultivation. The present study was conducted to learn the farmers’ brand preferences and brand loyalty while purchasing Maize hybrid in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. Data were gathered from 90 sample farmers by choosing two mandals in the district through random sampling approach. Top eight brands of maize seed was taken for the study and ranking was determined using simple weighted average method. It was found that, majority of the farmers preferred NK 7884 and NMH 8352 Winner followed by KMH 8333. Also, the study concluded that, there would be repetitive purchase of the same brands and the farmers would purchase preferred branded seeds, regardless of considering the cost of seed.